


Golden Scales

by ViperxCobra15



Series: Scales [1]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Character only knows Classic Who, Crossover with other Fandoms, Gen, Jackie centric, Only by a bit, which ones?, you'll find out
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27368047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViperxCobra15/pseuds/ViperxCobra15
Series: Scales [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1999111
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

Author's Note: Rewrite of my Dragon's Scales series in progress, with a new title and new ideas about how each episode should turn out.

Prologue

Despite having been around for only two years, Dragon's Scale Cafe was a popular go-to place for college students attending Oxford University; and not just because of the staff.

"Here's your coffee and creamer, your bagel will be out in just a minute, anything else?" the teen's cheeks tinted pink at the waitress' smile as he shook his head.

"N-no we're good," his friends snickered even as the waitress appeared oblivious to his embarrassment.

"Well, I'll be right back then," she disappeared into the kitchen and his embarrassment faded quickly as he glared at his friends.

"Seriously, guys? A little support would be nice," one of them looked incredulous.

"Mate, you're trying to go after Yun-Seo, who everyone knows is off limits, or haven't you seen the ring on her finger?" rubbing the back of his head, he looked to the side and coughed.

"Well, no one's seen the guy, so I just thought," his other friend slapped the back of his head, humor gone.

"Look, I know you think she's pretty and everything, but we're not helping you go after a taken woman, one whose five years older than you are as well and according to rumor, is engaged to someone older than her," there was still a stubborn look on the boy's face, though it faltered a bit as Yun-Seo came back out with their food and returned to her spot behind the counter.

He sighed, staring at her raven black hair that reached her elbows, her hazel eyes that seemed to change color in the sun's reflection through the windows, her creamy, smooth -a slap hit his head again and he glared at his friend who looked unamused.

"Just don't mate, not worth it," he huffed, picking up his bagel and biting into it with frustration, forget them, he'll ask her out once her shift ends, he's sure she likes him, anyway.

"Leading on more boys?" Yun-Seo gave the brunette before her a cool look.

"You know that I don't do that," anymore was left unsaid, "This ring is supposed to deter them, not encourage them," her accusing tone had the woman raising her hands in surrender.

"We both know that it only deters the ones who can take a hint, let him down firmly, but gently please, don't want another repeat of the last time," With a sigh, the Asian waitress took out a cup and filled it with some tap water, wishing she could have some tea but didn't want to deal with the manager getting after her for taking from the restaurant.

"Shouldn't you be at work, Delia? The bar still needs to be built, and the cafe will not run itself," Delia rolled her eyes,

"Yeah yeah, who's the one that persuaded me to buy that run-down business in the first place?" Yun-Seo shrugged.

"We had some splendid times there before the you-know-what, can I help you with something sir?" the breathing behind her neck was unpleasant, and not just because her boss did 'snack breaks' in the bathroom.

"Stop loitering around and get back to work, consider your tips halved today," he reached into the jar with sweaty, meaty hands and grabbed a fistful of cash which he then stuffed into his sweat and food stained apron and went back into the kitchen. The two women stared after him, one with a resigned expression while the other looked furious.

"That guy seriously needs to be fired," Delia said in a low voice, not at all pleased at how the man treated her friend.

"It's fine, only two more years to go and I'm out of this place," working at Dragon's Scales was fine and all, but even she had her limits dealing with men like him.

Delia eyed her with a knowing look in her eyes, the younger woman shaking her head and grabbing the coat behind her on the chair.

"See you at the house tomorrow for the get-together," her eyes cut to the pimpled teen that was watching Yun-Seo with a glazed look in his eyes, "Maybe even bring a date," the teasing tone had her ducking the flick to the forehead that would have no doubt stung for the next hour, laughter escaping her as she exited the cafe with a backwards wave.

"I swear," Yun-Seo shook her head and returned her attention to the counter, only to stop short at the teen now standing there.

"So, want to go to the movies with me?" his eyes were wide and hopeful, and she inwardly twitched,

What was the point of wearing this stupid ring?!

Two Hours and thirty rejected date proposals later

"You better lock up tight this time, and I want everything in here spick and span, you got it sweet cheeks?" she avoided his hands with practiced ease, twirling the mop which he avoided on the floor.

"Yes sir," being the late-shift waitress sucked, but something she stuck with because of her school hours. He grumbled about her being a 'tease' but didn't try it again, something she was thankful for, otherwise he'd end up with his arm facing the wrong direction.

'I'd rather date a Slitheen' and even then she would throw vinegar at them once the date ended to avoid any misconceptions.

The thought of her dating life had Yun-Seo cursing whoever was in charge because she had sworn a long time ago (ten years ago did not count, at all) that she would not accept any courtship proposals till her current situation was done, finito, finished.

The sleeves of her jacket were rolled up to avoid getting wet as she picked up the trash bags and her eyes fell upon the faded mark around her right wrist. Blue and bronze decorated her arm, which was a pity. She had liked the Ravenclaw house best in the series before this mark appeared.

It was too faded to make out apart from a few circles here and there, and she stamped down the impatience and relief at finally being free of this mark, this brand, for good.

Locking the doors behind her, she threw the trash bags into the dumpster and glanced at the full moon.

"Better get home before the creeps come out," she needed to sleep.

Taking a step out of the alley, she paused at the sound of something shuffling before there was a loud thump. Muttering to herself, she turned and went towards the sound, relaxing her body as she got ready to defend herself, only to come upon someone face down on the cobblestone street.

"Seriously?" it was probably some drunk homeless guy, but seeing as it was the middle of winter she did not want to leave him out in the cold.

She bent down and turned him over, frowning at the tattered scarf covering his face and with dread realized that he wasn't breathing.

Feelings warred within her as she contemplated leaving this man who was obviously near death, but then she groaned and started pumping his chest.

"One, two, three, four," she braced herself for the sting as she bent down to give him breath, only to jerk back at the golden energy that came out as soon as her lips touched him.

"NO! No no," the golden energy went straight towards the mark on her arm, the faded colors darkening as the blue and bronze gained more color as she stumbled away from the man, anger and horror engulfing her as she realized exactly who he was.

"No, no, this isn't even the right incarnation, why?!" this wasn't supposed to happen, she only had one more day left.

One more day.

The man was breathing now, but barely, and his chest barely moved as she glared down at him. The surrounding snow stopped in mid-air as her anger took hold, the snowflakes turning back into water before disappearing into steam.

"It just had to be you," she shouldn't be helping him any longer, he clearly survives without her interference. He did not need her to help him.

She should just go.

The teen manning the desk widened her eyes at Yun-Seo and the man held over her shoulders, but kept her mouth shut at the quelling glance.

"I'll take him to the spare room, he'll be asleep for the next twenty-four hours, at precisely this time tomorrow, prepare the tea and make sure he has some new clothes to change into, I don't care what they are." she received the keys and in mere moments had dumped the man on the bed, staring at his sweating face and the way it was twisted in discomfort.

She sighed.

This was going to be a long night.


	2. Ch. 1: Jackie

Author's Note: I do not own Doctor Who

Chapter One: Jackie

In a flat at the Powell Estates, the sound of an alarm briefly sounded before it was quickly silenced. Gray-blue eyes peered out, blinking blearily at the numbers before a groan sounded as she got up. Stumbling around her room, she quickly turned on the light and kept an ear out to make sure she didn't wake up the other occupant in the flat.

When she didn't hear anything she changed into some casual clothes and put her hair up in a ponytail before grabbing her purse and leaving, only to freeze and return to the room as the alarm rang again.

She hit the snooze button and for good measure unplugged it from the wall as well.

"I always forget about that," deciding to check on her daughter, Jackie peered into her room, but the nineteen year old was out cold.

Good, that didn't wake her, with a sigh of relief the single mother stepped out into the cold early morning, the sun not having risen yet.

After all it was only four forty in the morning.

It used to creep her out, being out so early, but after six months she had gotten used to it, plus the walk wasn't that far.

The community center was already lit up by the time she got there, familiar faces greeting her as she came in. Everyone was tired but they always made the effort to be friendly to one another as they worked towards the same goals with this class. The teacher was already at the board, writing out the agenda for the day and calling for everyone to take a seat. Jackie grabbed her morning cup of tea and a delicious looking croissant before taking her seat as several others did as well.

"Before we begin, let us thank William for supplying the breakfast from Delia's bakery," he said, causing the man next to her to look a bit embarrassed as several others called out their thanks, one even whistling that had him looking in their direction with a snarl.

"Oi! You want to start something?" Jackie patted him on the shoulder and he huffed, calming down as laughter spread out.

Teasing this young man was a particular favorite among the regulars, but Jackie thought that he was sweet for doing this for his girlfriend.

"Alright, eyes forward, you take the A-levels next week and we need to make sure that everyone is prepared," Jackie took a sip of her tea and mentally prepared herself for a long two hours.

But she made the commitment and maybe, when she had accomplished it, Rose might think differently about taking hers.

The moment she entered the apartment the alarm clock in her daughter's room went off and she took her pants off, slipping a robe on and sitting on the couch, turning the TV on to the usual channel.

Ten minutes later Rose finally came out in her own casual clothes (why Henriks didn't make their employees wear uniforms she did not know.) the teenager kissing her on the cheek goodbye before spotting what she was doing.

"This show again?" the disdain was obvious and Jackie tried not to feel offended as her daughter grabbed an apple and headed for the door.

"What's wrong with this show?! You used to love it when you were younger," but the door slamming shut was her only answer. Honestly, what was she going to do with that girl? She'd never had anything against the show before she entered secondary and decided it was too 'old-school'.

With a sigh the single mother settled into the couch with a cup of tea, she had a couple of hours before she needed to go to work after all.

There was a familiar signal emitting on her computer and Yun-Seo rubbed her temples as she groaned.

"These guys again?" how many times were they going to try to take over Earth with plastic? How many times have they failed so far?

Even she had to deal with them when he wasn't there. They are never going to learn their lesson, are they?

She made to stand when her phone buzzed and she took it out, revealing a text message.

"Don't Interfere, it's one of his, 9," staring at it for a moment, she shrugged and resumed seating.

It was 2005, and she didn't recall Autons during this time in one of the Classic episodes.

Which meant this was 'New Who' territory, something she knew nothing about apart from the names of all his companions. She knew what his future incarnations looked like, even the one with the big ears to make it easier to avoid them.

There were only two incarnations she avoided like the plague, and big ears was one of them.

"Yun-Seo!" one of her fellow architecture students was waving at her from the study room door and holding up a familiar brochure.

Right, she'd almost forgotten about that particular promise.

"Coming!" she would finish the report another time, and hopefully will not run into that man.

'Three more years' she told herself, just three more years.

Jackie-

When she saw 'Henriks' on the evening news her heart nearly stopped.

"Rose!" she jumped at her phone and tried to get a hold of her daughter, and for three rings thought the worse.

Then it clicked.

"Mum?" laughing with relief, Jackie collapsed onto the sofa.

"Rose! Are you alright? The news said your job blew up," there was a beat of silence on the other end, "Rose?"

"I'm fine Mum, I was nearly a block away when it happened," blinking a bit, Jackie frowned down at her phone even as she urged her daughter to hurry home. As soon as the call ended her frown grew as she wondered why her own daughter had just lied to her.

Because if there was something Jackie had learned to do while raising her only child, it was knowing when she was lying.

Then she shook the thought from her mind because Rose is fine, she's safe, which was all that mattered.

Just think about what Rose was going to do for a job, hm, maybe she could convince her to seek compensation?

The next morning she almost decided not to go to the early classes, but a voice in the back of her head urged her to go anyways.

'Rose won't be awake till you come back, no point in staring at her bedroom door.

So she went, and almost two hours and a detour later she returned with some take out and a steaming cup of tea. Rose didn't like their drinks so this was just for herself.

She had already asked Delia if there were any job openings that she knew of for Rose and the brunette offered to send the girl's resume around.

"Our bar isn't opening for another six months," she said apologetically which Jackie already knew, "But I can see if any of my contacts need help, what kind of jobs will she go for?" Jackie had bit her lip at that, it had taken everything just to convince the girl to work at Henriks.

And look where that got her.

Taking out the newspaper, she phoned one of her neighbors while flipping to the classified section to see what job openings were there. There was an ad from a temp agency asking for more workers, would Rose be interested in something like that? Circling it, she also spotted several openings at a nearby movie lot that was being renovated for a television series. That sounded interesting so she circled it as well.

The familiar sounds of an alarm broke her ponderings over a secretary at an architecture firm and she debated whether or not to let the girl sleep in.

Then again.

"Rose! Come on out, I got some breakfast and we need to go over future plans," she had asked a friend of Delia's about compensation but all Ann had to tell her was that it wasn't advisable if Rose claimed to be blocks away when the incident occurred. Although she did suggest that if Henriks tries to weasel out of paying Rose's check for the month to push for a case then.

But right now the only option was job searching.

A groan sounded from the other room,

"Can't we put job searching off for another day? My job did just get blown up," Jackie bit her lip at that, it was a good point, maybe just for today.

"Alright," she wouldn't wake her daughter up, something terrible just happened after all.

It was fine, she'd wait a week before asking Rose, but it did not mean she couldn't look for new jobs herself did it?

Around nine she heard a rattling sound and jumped.

"Rose? Is that you?" she peeked into her daughter's room and frowned at the mess of blonde hair still in bed, "It's nine just so you know, I'm going out in a couple minutes," a hand rose and waved her off.

(If only she'd known that would be the last time she saw her daughter, she would've made sure that Rose had never left the apartment.)

She almost bumped into a strange man with big ears and a leather jacket on the way down if he hadn't looked up in time from the strange device in his hands. Something about him caught her eye, reminded her of the veterans in her A-levels class, the haunted looks they had in their eyes.

"You alright sweetheart?" he stared at her for a moment before ignoring the question and walking passed her.

Deciding to ignore his rudeness, she went on her way, the A-levels were almost here and a few of the others wanted to go over some stuff before hitting the mall.

Maybe they had some job openings there?

Later that night

Clive stared at the moving mannequins in awe,

"It's all true," he whispered, he wasn't crazy!

Then its hand opened and he felt the grasp of death as he realized it was aimed in his direction.

"Clive!" his wife gasped in terror before there was movement as the mannequin's hand was knocked down, the shot missing.

"Move," his savior's hair covered her face as she turned away from them, taking both of the mannequin's arms and breaking them with little effort.

Then he spotted her wrist and swallowed,

"Y-your real too," her eyes met his and for a moment it felt like he was looking into a whirlpool as those hazel eyes seemed to spin into different shades of gold and green and he backpedaled, "I swear I haven't told anyone! I only tell them about the Doctor," if there was one thing he kept in all his theories about the immortal alien, it was that this particular woman did not want to be tracked. He didn't even tell that Rose girl about this woman despite how excited he was at someone's interest.

"Get your family out, and I suggest deleting your website about the Doctor," he nodded frantically as several other girls appeared, knocking down the mannequins, some even melting them with flamethrowers.

"Yes ma'am," he did not want to be on her bad side, at all.

Then all the mannequins stumbled and fell and gold turned back into hazel as she disappeared amidst the aftermath chaos.

"Dad?" his son tugged on his sleeve as he watched the other girls disappear with their savior as sirens sounded in the distance. One of them glanced back and he swallowed as she tossed the flamethrower like it was nothing to her comrade who caught it one-handed, a smirk appearing on her face at his expression as she picked up a melted mannequin.

"L-let's go home, and if anyone asks, we just saw the mannequins fall down on their own," his family didn't protest.

Aftermaths of these kinds of attacks are never fun, and with chances of being discovered Yun-Seo tried not to involve herself too much.

Then one of her girls approached her,

"We found out who typed 'Blue Box and Doctor' in the search engine," she focused on them and could tell before they even opened their mouths.

"So this is the first time she met him huh?" their expressions had her sighing, "I haven't gotten any texts so what happened tonight should've happened," they didn't look convinced but left and she dropped the smile on her face.

"Rose huh?" she'll have to keep a close ear and eye out for this girl, make sure things go as they should.

Even if she isn't sure herself what will happen, something that made her almost regret focusing on the Classic Episodes over the New Ones.

Almost.

When she spotted the missing poster weeks later she knew that regret would be hitting her in the worst possible way.


	3. Ch. 2: End of Her World

Author's Note: I do not own Doctor Who

Chapter 2: End of Her World

When Rose didn't come home that evening Jackie feared the worst and immediately tried to call Mickey but the boy was barely coherent.

Maybe that hadn't been her on the phone? Maybe something had happened and someone else had used her phone to call Jackie?

It was a sleepless night as she tried to get a hold of the girl, and more sleepless nights as she tried every single one of Rose's friends and some of her own. When she tried to ask Mickey if he had been with Rose that night he had avoided her pleading gaze and refused to say anything, looking almost ashamed.

Is it any wonder she suspected him of being responsible for her daughter's disappearance?  
After several weeks of her being listless and skipping classes, even the A-level exam, the employees of Delia's bakery intervened.

As she left the police station (the officers were not at all helpful considering this wasn't the first time Rose had disappeared without warning) Jackie could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks, throat dry from hours of sobbing.

"Alright Mrs. Tyler let's go," with that warning she felt herself being picked up into a bridal carry, sputtering in shock.

"William!" the man ignored her protest, carrying her down the street and her cheeks turned red at everyone's stares, "Put me down!"

Five minutes later she was in Delia's bakery being taken to the back room where he placed her on the couch and threw a comforter around her shoulders.

"Go to sleep," she glared at him with red rimmed eyes.

"I need to find R-rose," her voice cracked and he crossed his arms, the stern look telling her that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Jackie," the owner appeared, a young woman in her twenties with brown hair and eyes, a gentle smile on her face as she sat down next to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. Normally Jackie would've put up a fight, but Delia's bakery had been her source of comfort the past year, the woman herself becoming a close friend in all their interactions.

"You need to rest up, let the police do their job," she tried to protest again, only for the exhaustion to catch up all at once and she was out.

The two watched her for a moment before Delia put her in a more comfortable position while he turned off the light.

The moment the door closed, a scowl appeared on William's face.

"Can I punch him, just once," Delia gave him a look.

"You know you can't," she dragged him away and made a note to call his girlfriend to come and stop him before he broke protocol and tried to track the wrong Doctor down.d

Panic enveloped her as she woke up, calling out Rose as someone grabbed her before she fell off the couch.

"Miss Tyler?" it took a moment for her to place the one who had caught her.

"Yun-Seo?" she'd seen the girl in and out of the bakery doing deliveries, even had her deliver to the Powell Estate once. They hadn't interacted much beyond a few pleasantries, but from what Delia told her about the girl's school and work life she didn't take it personally.

"Do- do you need some tea?" she didn't ask 'are you alright' for which Jackie was grateful.

"No, I have to go home, maybe she came back," then she took out her cell but could only sob when the time and lack of any messages or missed calls hit her ears.

Ten hours, she'd been out for ten whole hours? She needed to get home, maybe they called her home phone and Rose could be at the hospital or maybe-

A minty scent reached her nose and she felt herself relaxing as a warm cup was placed into her hands.

"There's been no news," the words were unwanted but it stopped her from hurrying home.

"Oh," it was silent for a moment.

"There's some scones in the oven, do you want some?" stomach growling, Jackie almost agreed, but then a thought came to her.

"You know, Rose used to like the scones from here, then one day she started throwing the bags away without eating anything. She thought I didn't know about it but I did, and I never got the courage to ask her why she changed her mind," then she realized what she said and mortification sat in, "Not that I think your scones are horrible, please don't tell Delia what I said," the college student waved it off.

"It's fine, there are many reasons why someone decides they no longer like the food that has nothing to do with taste, but that's not why you said it right?" wincing at the question, she pondered whether or not to tell this girl her fears.

Then again, she couldn't tell Bev or any of the others, she could gossip with them, not be open to them.

"This isn't the first time she's run off," she began, eyes so dry that tears refused to come, no matter how much she wanted them to.

Before the phone could ring twice she flipped it open and pressed answer, keeping an eye on the construction going on to make sure nothing went wrong.

Again.

"Finally saw a poster?" it takes a while for them to be distributed and it had taken quite a bit to persuade Oxford to put one in every single building instead of just one.

"I just finished talking with Jackie Tyler. What is going on?" huh, that explained why William was here instead of there, she just assumed he had one of the other workers stay with their friend. He always got antsy leaving these workers by themselves, considering this bar was his own personal investment.

"What usually happens," she pulled a drink out of the nearby cooler and offered one to the chief foreman who took it with a nod of thanks, "His piloting skills leave much to be desired," the frustrated sigh on the other end made her lips twitch.

"Do you know when she's supposed to come back? He's capable of giving her universal roaming, why hasn't she called her yet?" there was a whistle in the far distance as she saw William's girlfriend arrive and rolled her eyes at the inevitable confrontation about to happen.

"She probably did and ended up calling her at a time before she went missing. I'm not sure of the time, I'll have to look," she mused, "How did the talk go?" ah, there goes William marching down to give the whistler a what for while his girlfriend just looked amused, if she'd been offended it would have ended with the guy having a broken nose.

"Apparently her daughter has run away before, and she's afraid that Rose doesn't want to come back," the construction worker backed away at the blonde's approach, face paling at the man's expression.

"I'm actually surprised you went to meet the woman, you went out of your way to avoid her as much as possible when you found out she was Rose Tyler's mum," Delia couldn't blame her, the chances of the girl recognizing her later was too risky, at least the girl stopped visiting the bakery.

"When is Rose Tyler coming back?" repeating the same question meant she did not want to answer Delia's, but the bakery owner knew the reason.

"Yun-Seo, whether she comes back next week or next month, or even tomorrow, you know she isn't going to tell her mom about what is going on. Jackie deserves to know what is going on, why her daughter disappeared without warning. We know the answer but she doesn't," she took a deep breath, knowing what her next words were going to be and dreading the reaction, "Didn't you want someone with the answers, to tell you what happened to Lias?" the intake of breath had her wincing and she almost thought that the other would hang up before there was a sigh.

"Send the letter, I'll ask SJ to do the presentation," Delia let out a breath, "Make sure U.N.I.T. clears Mickey Smith in his girlfriend's disappearance from the police files, have him go with Jackie Tyler when she receives the invitation." giving an affirmative, she almost hung up but Yun-Seo had more to say,

"And Delia?" she swallowed, the woman's tone had grown cold, "Never use his name as leverage again," the call ended and she collapsed into the nearest chair, staring at the ground with her arms folded.

"Delia?" William's girlfriend sat down next to her, "You're crying," the surprised tone had her reaching up to her cheeks, where sure enough, tears were falling down, "What happened?" she gave a wry chuckle.

"Just did something that the old me wouldn't hesitate to do to get Yun-Seo to break the non-interference rule that was set, something that she will never forgive me for," and Yun-Seo was never going to talk to her again.

"You know how she is, she'll be mad for awhile, but she will see your point and calm down, but," and she nudged Delia with her shoulder, "it wouldn't hurt to make her favorite dessert, every day till Rose Tyler comes back," she let out a rough chuckle.

But it still didn't change the fact that she did something unforgivable, and even if she was forgiven, forgetting was a different matter.

When she got back to the estate there was a letter with no return address next to her.

"Rose Tyler is alive and safe," she nearly dropped the letter, and was tempted to think it a cruel prank, but couldn't stop herself from reading, "If you wish to to know the real truth, come to the address listed below, and bring Mickey Smith, he is aware of the truth but circumstances have prevented him from doing so."

It was only the scratchy throat and dry eyes that prevented her from dismissing the letter outright. She knew there were sick people out there who would do stuff like this just to mess with those whose loved ones are missing. But something told her this note was the real deal, and she really wanted to know the truth about Rose.

Even if it meant that she was wrong about Mickey Smith.

Next Day at 8:30 a.m.

"This could be a trap," Mickey stood three feet from her, not looking at all happy in her presence and if she was in a different state of mind Jackie would feel bad.

But right now she just wanted to find out what happened to her daughter.

"I need to know what happened to Rose," she stepped forward and pressed the doorbell, knocking for good measure.

Not a moment later it opened,

"Jackie Tyler, Mickey Smith, I'm Sarah Jane Smith, I know the man that your daughter is traveling with, but it'll require you to keep an open mind," Mickey stepped up.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Sarah Jane gave him a look.

"Because your girlfriend is not the first that the Doctor has traveled with," that shut him up and Jackie frowned, glancing between them.

"Doctor? Doctor who?"

2:30 p.m.

Jackie stared into her cup, the clear color of it almost making her wish for more of a reddish color of the wine variety.

Mickey fidgeted across the table, the anger he had earlier gone as he glanced up at her, for the first time he saw the dark circles and the red around her eyes,

"I'm sorry," she didn't move and he took a deep breath, "I was so scared of no one believing me that I couldn't tell you about Rose, about the Doctor," she stopped him before he could continue.

"I wouldn't have believed you if you said time machine or aliens, but that man, the Doctor, I saw him the day Rose went missing, and if you had said something about him being responsible I'm not sure if I would've believed that. When I saw him he didn't look like the type to just kidnap someone's daughter on random, I didn't get that from him," now that she knew the truth, anger warred with resignation.

Rose wasn't kidnapped, but she still left with a man who promised her adventure, who could offer her experiences that she couldn't have while staying at home.

The fact it was the man's own piloting that was responsible, that she wouldn't even see her own daughter for an entire year came as a hard blow.

But at the same time Rose will be coming back, alive and healthy and probably not even a week older than when she had left. Not knowing or realizing the hell that Jackie went through, and would have probably continued going through if someone hadn't taken pity on her to tell her the truth.

Checking the calendar, she took a deep breath,

"Mickey," he straightened at the resolve that settled over her face, "Could you drive me to this address next week? I have a test to take," they did the A-Level examination once a month and she wasn't going to miss it waiting for her daughter.

Rose will return, and knowing that is enough.


	4. Ch. 3: Quiet Dead

Author's Note: I do not own Doctor Who

Chapter 3: Quiet Dead

June 11, 1870

News of Charles Dickens death spread throughout Europe and soon everyone all over would know and mourn the death of this beloved author. Mourn the books he would never get to write and the readings he will never be able to do again. Funeral arrangements were being made and his estranged family would come again to his will reading to find out what he left to them. They had already fired the maid that he hired back on New Year's but sent the other staff away with recommendations.

So there were no witnesses to the sound of the library door opening and footsteps as a woman walked into the room.

She was dressed in the typical maid outfit, having not taken it off when they fired her that morning and forced her to leave without pay.

"Shouldn't be surprised," she sighed, "They probably think I'm responsible for his death with the 'special teas' I prepared for him," looking around the room, she considered her reason for coming here and sighed. She was about to commit what would look like a 'crime' to Dickens fans everywhere by going after the one book that she didn't expect him to actually finish, but he did.

One that unfortunately, she would have to take apart.

Going over to his desk, she pulled out the manuscript that for some reason he did end up finishing but according to history he did not.

Ah, hopefully he didn't write to someone about finishing it, otherwise unneeded suspicion will fall on those who lived in the house. Of course if they suspected the maid that they unjustly fired that would be a different issue and she would have to make sure no articles of the suspected theft are left.

She would leave installments three through six alone, but seven through twelve she placed in a brown envelope, sliding it into her shoulder bag before making her way to the bookcase. The finished manuscript wasn't her only target for the night.

The Next Morning

Higham Railway Station was surprisingly not busy, only a few regulars arriving or leaving when a well dressed noblewoman arrived, her hat and fan blocking anyone from seeing her facial features fully.

The train attendant stepped off and helped her board, not even trying to get a glimpse of her as he bade her a polite 'good morning.'

With a nod of her head she quietly refused his assistance to help her with the duffel bag in her right hand, citing personal reasons for carrying it.

It did not take her long to find the right compartment, and as soon as she closed the door behind her, she let out a groan and dropped into the seat, making herself comfortable as she threw her feet onto the rest of it.

"Well, good morning to you too," cracking one eye open, she glared at the woman opposite her.

"Is there a reason I had to board the train in this get-up? I'd prefer the maid outfit if it wouldn't attract the wrong attention," the brunette opposite her let out a laugh.

"Come on, we both know that you do like dressing up, you're just sour because you spent the past five months working as a maid to clean up after 'that guy.' Anyone else would be thrilled to have worked for the Charles Dickens," the former maid huffed.

"Well you didn't have to deal with his staff who were not too thrilled with a 'foreigner' encroaching on their business. I lost count on how many times they accused me of tricking him into hiring me." which wasn't all that far off, but she did have the necessary qualifications and it only took one sip of her tea for him to hire her on the spot. She had no other motives in working for him except to make sure that history stayed its course. Which, considering why she had to do it, she grimaced, "Honestly, how could he not realize that his encounters with authors like Dickens ends up with them recording the event?" the duffel bag opened and a completed manuscript was pulled out, the title on the cover annoyed her as her companion grabbed it.

"The Blue Box and Spirits from Far Away, could work on the title a bit more," she flipped it to the first page, reading the note addressed to the Doctor and Rose Tyler, thanking them. "Another one for the collection then?" the manuscript was taken from her hands and placed back in the duffle bag with the other one.

"Yes, and fans will speculate about the true ending for centuries to come, what about you Aria? Did you get what you needed?" green eyes glowed as their owner replied.

"Yeah, that issue is solved," then she frowned as she looked closer to her friend, "You okay Eun-ji?" the other's face was pale and the circles underneath her eyes were noticeable.

"Just that time of the year is all," Eun-ji replied, the exhaustion evident as her eyes closed, Aria's voice fading in her ears.

"I'll wake you up-".

When she was sure that the other's eyes were closed, Aria stood up and threw a blanket around the figure, noticing with alarm that Eun-ji had lost weight.

The last time this had happened, she shivered and locked the door, checking to make sure that Eun-Ji was completely asleep before opening the duffel bag and grabbing the manuscript.

Wouldn't hurt to read it and after all, it was going to be a long trip. Their usual way is faster but she had several reasons One of these reasons was currently having difficulty breathing and was shivering in her sleep, which Aria knew was not because she was cold (it was summer.). This only made her more confident in persuading her friend on taking the train, and reaffirmed her hatred for the person who did this.

Then she recalled the other reason for the train ride and hoped that the kitchen gets everything prepared, because Eun-Ji is not going to be happy about their new resident.


	5. Ch. 4: Aliens in London

Author's Note: I do not own Doctor Who, sorry it took so long, kept rewriting.

Chapter 4: Aliens in London

Rose popped outside of the TARDIS with a grin that slowly disappeared as she took in the surroundings,

"Um Doctor, this isn't the Powell Estates," the Time Lord's head popped out and he frowned,

"That's strange, I put in the correct coordinates, we should be right outside the building," Rose spotted the name of the laundromat and shrugged.

"I recognize the laundromat, it's only a few blocks away but I'm sure that'll help with the excuse I've been out for, how long?" he was still looking at the alley with a strange expression and she frowned at his inattention, "Doctor?" he jerked and turned to her.

"Sorry, twelve hours," Rose sighed in relief,

"Right, I'll have a quick talk with my Mum, check in with Mickey, and be right back," she frowned at the door on the other side, "I don't remember that being here, didn't this used to be a law office?" she shook her head and walked off.

Watching the nineteen year old leave, not the youngest companion he's had, the Doctor frowned as he turned back to his TARDIS.

"Now why did you land here of all places? We were supposed to end up in the alley outside the Powell Estates," all he got was a slight hum, "Well your lucky her flat is only a few blocks away, now come on, let's get closer," the moment his hand touched the doorknob a spark hit it and he scowled, "What is going on with you? This alley is too small," not to mention the alley itself was very narrow with a laundromat on one side and on the other, he wasn't really sure.

'Anne's Little Bit' did not tell him what kind of establishment it could be, but the smells coming from it were rather good.

Hm, maybe he should pop in while waiting for the domestics to be over with, might take awhile. Nah, he turned to go back into the TARDIS when he saw a poster barely peeking out from the backend of the alley.

One with a familiar face and name on it.

He stared at for a moment before breaking out into a run, clearing the alley just as the door to Anne's Little Bit opened and a blonde woman stepped out, trash bag in hand.

"Right, let's-" she trailed off, staring at the blue box, bag slipping from her hand onto the ground, "Rose," she whispered, running to the box and pounding on it, "Rose! Rose are you in there?! ROSE!" her shouting drew attention as Delia ran out, a bit wide-eyed.

"Jackie! Jackie I was looking at the cameras, Rose left the alley five minutes ago," Jackie turned to go after her but was stopped, "Jackie she's probably going to the Powell Estate, the both of you might end up missing one another, just stay here and I'm sure someone there will tell her your here, okay? Breathe," Jackie did what her friend suggested and almost collapsed.

"She's back, she's finally back," the relief was overwhelming, after twelve months Rose was finally back.

Which means the Doctor will be back too.

And she had some words to say to him, and not all of them were going to be nice. The hatred for him had long since fled after a few months, but it didn't make her anger towards his driving any better.

She wasn't the only one angry at him either.

"Oh, I'll call Mickey, he's still in tutoring and someone should warn Elizabeth to keep William home today," she realized, "And maybe keep silent on why," Delia winced,

"Yeah, probably for the best," the man had made it quite clear he wished to have his own conversation with the Doctor but everyone agreed to keeping that from happening. Because they all knew how this conversation would end, and someone's teeth would get knocked loose in the end.

Even if it wasn't the Doctor's.

Rose groaned as the key again refused to work, did Mum change it after she left? It'd only been twelve hours! Surely this was an exaggeration to the incident, right? Well, technically the table had been broken and Rose didn't leave a note, so her Mum might have thought the worst.

But Rose called her back! And Mickey knew where she was, why didn't he tell her Mum that it had been an accident?

"Mum?!" she banged on the door, "Why'd you go ahead and change the locks? Come on! It's Rose!" but there was no answer. Calling her didn't work either, all she got was that the number had been disconnected.

What was going on?!

With one last groan she dropped the key in her bag and wished that she had the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, otherwise it would be a long wait till Jackie Tyler returned from whatever date she was on.

"Rose Tyler," the snide tone made her flinch and she glared at the man who appeared, ah, Mr. Nichol, why was he looking at her like that, "Do you really think dressing the same as the day you left will soften her up? You've got a lot of nerve," her mouth dropped open.

"Wot? I've only been gone a day, where's my Mum?" he scoffed.

"Really, must've been a party coma if you think that excuse is going to fly," Rose bristled.

"Just tell me where she is right now!" but Mr. Nichols shook his head,

"At the bar, she's been there every day since you've disappeared," 'every day, disappeared?' Rose didn't have time to ponder those unsettling words when the Doctor appeared next to her, looking a bit out of breath and with a sheepish expression.

"It hasn't been twelve hours, it's been twelve months, sorry," she blanched.

"Twelve months?!" a whole year? She'd been gone a whole bleeding year?

And the whole time her Mum hadn't even known where she was?!

She had to correct this!

"Hey! What bar," she turned but the other tenant was already gone, ugh "Doctor, we need to find my Mum," she couldn't leave on an adventure with him if she didn't at least check in with her Mum.

But how was she going to explain time travel and aliens to a woman whose sole obsession was a black and white TV show from the 50s? (Yes she knew they did color eventually but it didn't change how boring it was to see all those obvious special effects.)

He scratched his head, looking a mix between regretful and reluctant,

"Maybe ask some of her friends if they know where she goes?" her shoulders slumped.

"Right," too much to hope he had some way of tracking her down, right?

Unfortunately the first few people they tried shut the door in their faces, some accusing Rose of being a drama queen who wanted to be the focus of attention just like before.

She ignored the Doctor's raised eyebrow at that, fuming at their reactions, if they thought she was missing, why was everyone treating her like an irresponsible runaway?!

"It's not like I can tell everyone where I've been right? No one will believe me, and if I have been declared missing, why aren't they telling me where Mum is?" then she spotted Shareen and with a relieved smile, she ran over to her, "Shareen! Hey," the girl stopped and Rose almost groaned at the dark expression, not her too, "Hey, I know it's been a year and all, but to be honest I didn't mean to be gone this long, can you tell me which bar me Mum's at?" Shareen gave her a once over and shot a look at the Doctor, crossing her arms and sighing.

"Well we all wondered when you would come back, not surprised you can't find Jackie, she hasn't lived at the Powell Estate in months, in fact she liv-" a loud whistling sound caught their attention and they all stopped as what appeared to be a saucer flew over the building and crashed right into Big Ben.

"Was that an alien spaceship?" Shareen's disbelieving tone had Rose sharing a look with the Doctor who suddenly looked excited.

They burst into a run, Shareen crying out and running after them,

"Was this supposed to happen?" Rose asked him, did they return the day Earth would find out about the existence of aliens.

"No clue!" he answered, a bright grin on his face and she withheld the groan that wanted to escape, instead laughing a bit at his response.

"Well that's helpful," she said sarcastically, almost bumping into the crowd in the streets, everyone getting out of their cars to gape at what was going on.

Shareen stopped beside them, panting a bit from the run, and giving them strange looks.

"I know the ship was unexpected and all but what happened to finding out where your mother is? You haven't seen here in a year after all," Rose frowned.

"I'm still concerned," she defended herself, "But if those are aliens, who knows what is going to happen," the Doctor looked at the crowd with distaste.

"We won't be able to get any closer in this crowd," Shareen rolled her eyes,

"Why would you want to get closer?" Then she shook her head, "Fine, if you're that interested, I'll just take you to the bar, bound to end up in the news," she turned and motioned for them to follow, and Rose looked back at the crowded streets before going after her, the Doctor a close step behind.

"Why is it a bar anyways and not a pub, Mum doesn't seem the type to go to a bar," she asked, because it didn't really make sense.

"I don't think you have any room to talk about what your Mum's like," the sharp retort had her gaping as her friend stopped in front of an almost familiar building, the Doctor breathing in sharply.

"But this is where we landed," Rose blinked and looked down the alley, the Tardis partially visible from where she stood.

"Really?" she gave him a look, he shrugged as Shareen gestured at them impatiently to get into the building.

"There are eight floors total so wait for me to ask one of the employees if they know where she is," she went off, leaving them to look around the room.

Rose frowned, Mum had been drinking in a place like this?

It was too bright and sophisticated looking, not somewhere you spent days on end getting drunk in. Although the lanterns in the walls and the bamboo arched entrance gave her a clue.

Now she knows why Mum goes here, oh God, this was worse than she thought, although the Doctor looked like he was enjoying himself as he looked at the decorations.

"This is fantastic, look at that dragon, almost looks real," he was staring overhead and Rose almost blanched when she looked as well.

Blimey it did look real, almost looked like it was going to snatch her up with its blue and white talons spread out, it's body winding around the chandelier in the ceiling with a mix of gold, blue, and green rippling through its body, the eyes appearing to change color every few seconds.

Bloody hell it looked real.

"Can I help you?" A dark skinned woman stopped them, hair in two braids wearing a fancy pantsuit that looked a bit out of place in the bright lights flashing her and there, it was giving Rose a headache.

"Yeah I'm looking for Jackie Tyler?" the stranger's eyes narrowed and Rose took a step back, nearly hiding behind the Doctor as the woman's fingers seemed to crack as she stretched and folded them into fists.

"What do you want with Jackie?" her voice was cold and she was reaching to her side where she noted with alarm had a strange bulge on it.

"Now wait a minute, there's no need for violence," the Doctor tried to placate her but that seemed to agitate her even more.

"State your reasons for visiting or I will throw you out," Rose swallowed and stepped forward.

"Look we were doing nothing wrong, I just want to see her, you can't stop us from doing that," Shareen nearly barrelled into them, stepping in front and waving her hands to ward off the woman.

"Daphne! Calm down, it's fine, I brought them here," the woman relaxed but her gaze focused on the Time Lord, looking as if she was analyzing him with her eyes.

"Why?" she asked, crossing her arms and staring down Shareen.

"She's Jackie's daughter, Rose? Haven't you seen the posters?" if Rose expected the woman to feel sheepish or apologize, it didn't happen.

"I wasn't really interested in looking at the face of the girl who made Jackie cry," Rose was getting tired of all these people getting after her for something that wasn't her fault.

Shareen stopped things from escalating any further,

"Just let us through, Jackie at least deserves to see her daughter again Daphne, okay?" with one last look the fancy suited woman stalked off passed them and disappeared down the stairs.

"Sorry about that, the security around here is really strict and they all adore Jackie," Rose scrunched her nose in confusion.

"Is that because she's a frequent customer?" she asked, causing Shareen to give her a weird look while pressing the button on the elevators.

"Customer? No," they all stepped in, "Jackie's on the eighth floor, apparently the bar is swamped so if you want to find out what is going on with this alien invasion then you can come in to watch the news. But I'm still mad at you Rose," the teen sighed,

"I know, everyone's been saying it, but there's a reason-" her friend cut her off.

"I know you had to keep things secret and all, but I would have at least appreciated a text before you went far away," Rose shot a look at the Doctor who shrugged, was she talking about what Rose thought she was talking about?

"I-it was a bit sudden, and it just never cam-" "I know being in witness protection is scary, but at least I wouldn't have worried about ya," wait, witness protection? Shareen thought she'd been in witness protection the whole time?

Having lost interest in the conversation the only alien in the elevator looked to the map of the building, humming in thought as his fingers tapped against his pants impatiently. Things were taking too long and he wanted to figure out what was going on.

"Eight floors? What's on the first?" Shareen glanced at the map the Doctor was looking at and sighed.

"Don't know, never been there, the private room the boss created from a part of the Underground Railroad. Only a select few are allowed down there, your name has to be on a list for it to work and there's a certain clearance you need to get in there," Rose scoffed.

"Bit silly considering it's only a bar," Shareen gave her a look.

"There are more than 'bars' in this building, the first floor is secret, the second is the kitchen for both the third floor bar and fourth floor dance club, fifth and sixth are office buildings, some of which belong to a private security firm, you've met already met one of them," the elevator doors opened and she stepped out walking quickly enough that Rose had to quicken her pace to catch up, "Seventh and Eighth floors are all flats," Rose's brow furrowed.

"But then why's my Mum up here?"

"Ok, are you deliberately being daft or something?" Shareen was glaring at her now, "Jackie. Tyler. Lives. Here." she sounded out each word and Rose returned the glare.

"How? My Mum's got no job and if she's at the bar as frequently as you claim," whatever she said made the other girl throw her hands up and pound on one of the doors.

"If you don't want to understand the obvious, never mind, Jackie! I'm here with Rose and the guy she traveled with," the door practically threw open as her Mum appeared.

"Rose!" Rose forgot her annoyance with Shareen as she almost stumbled under her Mum's sudden hug.

"Mum!" she felt her shoulder getting wet as Jackie clung to her for several minutes,

"I've missed you Rose, oh," Rose felt her own eyes getting wet, welcoming her Mum's warmth which was much nicer than what she received from the others.

Then her Mum stiffened and Rose pulled back to see her staring at the Doctor who was tilting his head.  
"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Jackie looked at him coldly.

"If it wasn't for this unexpected alien invasion I would be giving you a piece of my mind right now, thank you for bringing them Shareen, did you want to come in?" her friend shook her head.

"Nah, I think I'll head down to the kitchens, they might need some helpers and I could do an extra shift," Rose turned to give her a look but Shareen already turned around and went back to the elevator.

"Shareen works here?" her question earned her a funny look as her Mum stepped aside to let them in, watching the Doctor wearily as he stepped in behind her.

"Yes, she got hired several months ago, she's a huge help, trying to work her way up and all. Take your shoes off and put those slippers on now," Rose almost groaned,

"Really?" but her look had Rose leaning down to take her shoes off, the Doctor reluctantly doing the same when Jackie looked at him.

"I already have the news on, do either of you want something to eat? I can order something from the kitchens and they'll bring it up," Jackie disappeared through a door and Rose took one step into the living room before freezing, staring at it in horror while the Doctor made a beeline for the sofa, plopping down and turning the volume up, eyes focused on the reporter who was standing right in front of the crash site.

At any other time Rose would have liked to join him, but now she was despairing at one of the worst things that could have happened in her absence.

Her mum's obsession had become worse, much worse in the year she'd been gone and Rose felt the bile in her throat when she suddenly realized her Mum was wearing one of those Asian bathrobes that she'd always wanted.

It was bad enough the floor had strange designs here and there with those letters she recognized from the occasional Chinese takeout. The flat looked a bit small and the kitchen itself was open with a bar seating and only a small table attached to the end. Behind the couch there was a weird circle shaped bookcase with knick knacks here and there with books covering only a third on each shelf. The only other two bits of furniture in the living room was a cabinet with images of branches on its doors and a glass case with different tea sets behind it and a coffee table with vases beneath its glass top.

Even the walls hadn't been left alone and resembled a Chinese painting with bridges and mountains and some sort of festival going on, a different scene every few feet across the walls.

Withholding her reaction to gag, Rose sat down next to the Doctor, fidgeting a bit and forcing herself to calm down because if she blew up at her Mum things could get messy.

She had to do it nice and slow, act all casual, and not get mad that Mum just moved flats and threw out all of her stuff because she didn't see it fitting in whatever small room she had here.

If she did have a room here.

"Yes just send up two sampler platters and a large basket of chips, I've still got drinks up here so you don't have to send any. Oh if you need me to come down I can help," Mum sat at the far edge of the couch, "Yes I know I'm not supposed to come in today but with everything going on the bar will be full tonight right? Yes she's here, but I have a feeling she'll end up getting involved with whatever is happening," Rose stiffened a bit, how did her Mum know?

In fact, how did she know that the Doctor wanted to watch the news?

As soon as her Mum hung up Rose tried to start a conversation but couldn't find the right words to start.

So she just listened to the news instead, because the Doctor wasn't going to contribute anything was he?

"As the police ward off the area, we ask that all citizens please remain in their homes while the government figures out what this crash could mean for the fate of the Earth. Specialists are coming in to look at the wreckage to see if there are any survivors," blimey this was going to take awhile.

Ten minutes went on, Rose getting a bit bored with the news while the Doctor was now leaning against the couch, arms crossed and face blank.

A beeping sound caught their attention and went on for ten seconds before Jackie jumped up from the couch,

"Oh I forgot they changed the sound," she went over to a spot of wallpaper that had a border around it now that Rose looked closely, "Can you come help me Rose, I can't carry both trays," Rose sighed and did so, walking over as Jackie pressed the image of a wheel and the slot opened up.

"Hello Barbie Doll," she jumped back, letting out a startled scream that caused the Doctor to jump up and run over to them.

"Rose! What's wrong-" his voice trailed off as he stared at the being behind the dumbwaiter, "Well hello, who are you," Jackie gave them both a glare.

"Shouldn't you introduce yourselves first? Sorry about that Howie this is my daughter Rose and the Doctor, and what did I say about the Barbie doll thing?" the worm like creature did what it probably thought was a sexy smile but it put Rose off more than anything.

"Well can't say it's not true, can we?" the Doctor butt in, giving Jackie a sharp look.

"How'd you know who I am?" she gave him an unimpressed one.

"Let's just say someone took pity on the woman whose daughter disappeared after an attack with no trace or note of where she went. Who decided that weeks of watching this pathetic woman visit the police every single day begging for one single bit of news only to come home a crying mess deserved to know the truth of what happened. They told me everything about you Doctor, about your TARDIS, your time on Earth, and your bad piloting skills," Rose saw the stunned look on his face before it morphed into offense.

"My piloting skills aren't that bad," he protested, Howie scoffed.

"Even I've heard of them, here's your food Jackie," he pushed forward the covered trays, Jackie forcing Rose to take one before grabbing the other one and handing the Doctor the basket of chips.

"Well there's a few people on Earth who will contradict your claim, set the food on the coffee table, I'm going to bring the laptop out, see if there's any better results on the internet." she turned back towards the dumbwaiter. "See you later Howie," he gave a wave with one of his many arms and the door closed.

"And these few people on Earth, who are they?" the Doctor demanded, setting the chips down but took several for himself.

"Well apart from a couple of schoolteachers and another who ended up in Aberdeen instead of Croydon, there is UNIT," the Doctor nearly choked on the chips,

"UNIT? Really, and Aberdeen huh? Ooh, she never mentioned that," Rose was not enjoying where the conversation was going, especially the interest she saw in his face at the mention of whoever ended up in Aberdeen, whoever she was.

"No hold on, Mum, what was that in the dumbwaiter," her Mum disappeared into the kitchen and brought out a pitcher with several cups, ignoring Rose's question as she went into the back room, "Mum!"

"Keep your hair on, I'm getting the laptop, and Howie is, I think he said Annelid but they just call themselves Worms. They have their own flat down the hall and travel through the tubing in the walls, sometimes helps deliver food and other errands, don't know what else they do," the Doctor lifted a cover and hummed,

"What's all this then? Nibbles?" Rose almost groaned at the change in conversation, then she saw the food and frowned.

"This is a sampler platter? Anything bigger than my hand?" she'd rather have a pizza than this array of mini-burgers and dumplings and kabobs.

"No, it's a restaurant where silverware isn't used, your option is either toothpicks or your own fingers, or just order kabobs," the Doctor snapped his fingers.

"Anne's Little Bit! That's what it means," Jackie's lips twitched and Rose, seeing she was the only one having issues with the food, settled down and grabbed one of the sliders, nudging the Doctor aside so that she could reach the chips.

"So UNIT, they actually talked to you?" he asked, changing attention between the news and what her Mum was doing on her laptop.

"Well yeah, and they helped Mickey clear whatever charges the police had on him, only talked to a few of them, that Brigadier fellow was very nice, oh here we go," she pulled up a website with jade green background and golden waves behind the titles.

Rose leaned in to see it and frowned,

"Tea-time?" Jackie shrugged.

"Bit misleading when it doesn't really talk about tea, let's see," the Doctor saw the laptop and nearly knocked the chips from her hand as he grabbed it and held it up.

"What kind of website is this?" he asked in disbelief, "Why is there a tab for tracking my TARDIS? There's Gallifreyan symbols hidden in the background, who created this website?" his voice was getting louder and Rose hoped he wouldn't go Oncoming Storm on her Mum.

"You did actually," her Mum took a sip of whatever was from the pitcher, "Sometime around 2003, the other collaborators are unlisted and there's a special security that prevents anyone not in the know from seeing the website for what it is. Depending on one's intentions they'll see different content and only those who are given certain clearance can see information about you," he sank back into the couch, staring at the laptop.

"Why would I help make this?" he questioned, but Jackie just shrugged.

For the next several hours he poured through the website, his expression so focused Rose didn't dare interrupt him. Instead she got up and went to the back of the flat, exploring her new 'room' which had a much smaller bed but with the same covers and her clothes were still in the closet.

"The rest of your items are in storage downstairs, I was waiting for you to come back to decide which ones you want to keep or bring up," Mum was behind her, staring at the room.

"If you knew where I was, the truth of it all, why didn't you wait for me to come back before deciding to move here," Rose tried not to let the hurt show in her voice but failed.

"I didn't want to live at the Powell Estates anymore, as far as they know you ran away just like you did in secondary, decided you wanted a better life than you had. For the police and Shareen your closest friend, as far as they know you're in witness protection. When I got the job as the bartender they offered me a good deal on this flat so that I didn't have to worry about walking home after every shift." Rose sat on the bed, hands on her covers that she only slept in what, two days ago? She didn't know how much time passed while she sat there, staring at her new room and wondering what she was going to do. Her Mum knew the truth, she didn't have to worry about what to tell her or anything else.

But what was she supposed to think? Would the Doctor still want her traveling with him after this? Knowing people revealed information about him to someone he didn't know just because her daughter was missing?

And ha- had there been others that traveled with him? Rose didn't want to think about it.

"Oi!" The sudden shout made her jump, and she went to the couch where the Doctor was scowling at the screen now. He was in what looked like a chatroom with someone whose name was blurred, "Calling me a," he clicked his tongue and typed a response in a language Rose couldn't even understand, "That'll teach you!"

"Doctor!" she got his attention and he coughed, giving her a sheepish look, "Anything in the news?" he looked at the screen, updates now talking about a body being brought to a hospital.

"Well if you are thinking of doing anything, tell me now, because I'm locking up to go to my shift," Rose looked and tried not to let the grimace show on her face.

"I-is that your uniform?" Jackie brushed away invisible dust on her black and gold kimono shirt, black pants beneath them and her hair in a tall bun with chopsticks pierced through them.

"Isn't it gorgeous?" she asked with a large grin, "I've got three others, all different colors," the Doctor hummed.

"Makes sense, goes with the theme," Rose managed her tongue in teeth smile when they both looked towards her.

"L-looks great," she managed, trying to ignore his confused expression and the knowing one on her Mum's.

The walk back to the elevator was spent in silence, Rose glad to be out of the apartment and Jackie keeping a sharp eye on the Doctor who had almost brought her laptop with them because he wanted to continue looking at the website.

"Just sign in from your TARDIS," she scolded him. As the elevator's door opened the Doctor and Rose almost stopped short as a young man stepped out, dark hair in a messy disarray with slightly large ears and blue eyes, dressed in a white collar button up and dark pants. He was reading some sort of notebook, brow furrowed and almost bumped into them.

"Sorry I wa-" he blinked at the sight of them, looking somewhat confused and embarrassed, shuffling his feet and scratching his nose.

A nose with green scales down it, connected to a v shaped arc reaching into his hair.

"Hello Rys, how are you," Jackie didn't look at all that bothered by his appearance, "Is Alex in tonight?" he looked almost relieved when he saw her, trying to avoid their eyes as he spoke to her.

"Not yet, we're having a movie night and Alex will be home in an hour or so. So I'm just going to be working on homework assignments till then, didn't want to do it downstairs.," he shrugged, "Um, well I have to," he hurried passed them and disappeared into the room down the hall.

"Well he was a bit nervous wasn't he?" Jackie huffed,

"He's not used to strangers on this level and always drops his disguise the moment he gets into the elevator. It also didn't help that the two of you were staring at him like that," they got into the elevator and Rose saw the Doctor contemplating something.

"It's a bit strange, if I didn't know any better I'd think he was part Silurian," she wanted to ask him what a Silurian was but he turned towards her Mum with an intent expression.  
"Are the other residents like that?" He seemed genuinely interested.  
"Mix of humans and aliens, some are able to blend with human life while others only go out at night or have their own ways of getting around without attracting the wrong attention. Haven't exactly met everyone yet, never been to the seventh floor but I know there's a blue skinned woman that rides the elevators sometimes," he grinned.

"Fantastic," Rose was a bit more concerned, they couldn't exactly tell the bad from the good aliens right?

She heard the music before the doors even opened and Rose tried not to wince at the bright lights burning her eyes from their intensity. People were everywhere, some at the tables while others were standing around talking with one another or watching the TV.

Rose went to grab a seat at the bar but saw the Doctor heading towards the exit instead,

"Hey! Where are you going," she followed him into the alley where he was already pushing the TARDIS door open. "Doctor," he stopped and turned to her.

"Just popping in for a bit, won't be long, bit too humany in there for me," she gave him a look.

"We just left the elevator, it's been less than a minute," she said dryly, he shrugged.

"Exactly, they were all watching Sports anyways, not the news," his disdain was obvious, "I'll be right back in, spend some time with your Mum, do some human things," he made to go in again but she stopped him.

"Promise you won't disappear?" the Doctor stopped and looked back at her for a moment, reaching around in his jacket before pulling out a key.

"Here, TARDIS key, bout time I give you one," she clutched it in her hands, a feeling of elation at his trust in her rising up.

He gave her one last grin before stepping into the TARDIS, and instead of following him in she went back into the bar. Didn't want him thinking she was clingy right?

Now hopefully they're drinks weren't in just shot glasses.

Mickey closed the notebook and let out a deep sigh, finally, these tutoring sessions were becoming longer and longer every time.

Bringing his books to the counter, he checked them out and grabbed his phone from the librarian with thanks, turning it on and almost dropping it at the amount of messages he saw there. With a frown he flipped it open and checked the message from Jackie first.

And broke into a run out the door, narrowly dodging some of the library patrons and apologizing as he made his way to his car and threw his backpack into the passenger seat.

Rose was back, finally back, which meant the Doctor was back too.

He had some things to say to that Time Lord.

"Where are those files?" a dark haired man almost huffed, his construction suit getting heavier by the minute, he hated getting the late shift but he didn't want to rely on the others for money so if it meant less time cuddling with Rys on the couch.

The sacrifice almost wasn't worth it.

Letting out an exclamation of triumph, he pulled a folder free and placed it in his suitcase, locking it securely and practically jumping down the steps of the construction site in his haste to get home.

Only a black car screeching into a halt in front of him stopped that plan.

He turned to go around it but the car doors opened and he found a gun pointed right at his forehead.

"Hey, what's the hold-up MIB? The alien crash site is that-a-way," he joked but got a punch to his gut instead.

He had a strange feeling his nighttime plans for Rys were not going to happen.

Yun-Seo was going to kill him.

Shareen saw Mickey come in and had to wince as Rose spotted him and did that thing where she was torn between being all innocent or acting like everything wasn't her fault.

Which it wasn't, but having suspected Mickey of murdering Rose herself Shareen felt a bit bad that he still clung to the idea of getting back together with her when she got back. If the looks she shot that man she came home with was any indication, that kind of thing was not going to happen.

Hopefully Rose lets him down before anything else.

Then Rose turned and ran out the exit and she saw Jackie make a move to get out from the bar but stopped her and ran out herself, seeing Rose and Mickey staring at an empty lot.

Rose looked about to cry and Mickey was biting his lip, obviously having upset her,

"What's going on?" they both whirled to see her just as whatever Rose was holding started glowing and a strange whooshing sound echoed throughout the alley and a mysterious wind appeared.

"Oh god the TARDIS, Right Shareen get back in the bar, go!" Rose urged her, Mickey went to turn her around but Shareen spotted the blue box slowly phasing into existence and her mouth dropped even as the hairs on the back of her neck raised.

'What' Rose ran into the box, Mickey behind her, Shareen didn't have to wonder how they fit when she could see the large room that was inside.

The man who had been with Rose was running around what appeared to be a console, flicking switches here and there and talking to Rose.

"Doctor, my friend, Shareen's here," he looked up at her and looked like he wanted to groan.

"Great, don't make this place domestic," he scolded Rose, Shareen shot one last glance at the room before running out, Rose and Mickey calling after her.

Mickey groaned, making a note to talk to Shareen later before turning to the Doctor who wasn't even looking at him, pretending he didn't exist.

Which was fair considering Mickey hadn't been all that impressive in their last meeting, God he had the words to say to the man but found them failing.

"Mickey can you make sure that Mum doesn't see the TARDIS? I don't want her freaking out either, and make sure Shareen's okay," Mickey knew a dismissal when he heard one and tried not to feel hurt.

"Right, talk to you later Doctor," he walked to the door and paused before leaving, "Good to see you Rose," he wanted to stay longer, maybe give his own input, but what could he actually contribute?

He'll find Shareen anyways, maybe talk her down from doing something like reporting the Doctor.

Which she wouldn't, right?

Shareen hid in the phone booth, crouching down and trying not to tremble as she called the emergency number shown on the large TV in the store across from her.

Whatever that man was, he was not witness protection and she'd be damned before she lets him continue with whatever charade he was doing with Rose and Jackie.

"Emergency secure line, can I help you?" she let out a breath and tried to contain her sobs.

"Yes I was just in a box, a blue box, my friend, she was with this man, what did she call him," it popped in her head, "Doctor! She called him the Doctor and the box, I think I heard TARDIS," they asked for a few more details before thanking and hanging up on her, she put the phone back and almost screamed when Mickey appeared outside the glass.

"Shareen! Calm down, who did you call?" she stared up at him, adrenaline disappearing and he groaned, "Shareen, tell me you didn't," she couldn't really deny it.

Sirens appeared and they watched several police vehicle drive by and block the alley, helicopters flying overhead and men in gear marching.

Shareen burst out of the phone booth when she saw them taking Rose as well, almost running towards her if Mickey didn't stop her.

"What are you doing, they grabbed Rose too! I didn't mean for her to be arrested," he dragged her behind a pillar and shushed her till the cars had gone.

"That was UNIT, they weren't arresting him, they're bringing him and Rose who is his companion in to deal with the alien issue," she gaped at him.

"What?"

The dance room was still empty so the policeman decided to question her right then and there while Mickey went downstairs to tell Jackie what was going on. The detective talking to her gave off a very bad smell and she wanted to gag at the awful stench but pissing off the police never ended well.

When he dismissed his officers she tried not to think much of it, then he reached for his forehead and she watched with dawning horror as he unzipped and a large green blob with claws came out.

She screamed.


	6. Ch. 5: World War Three

Author’s Note: I do not own Doctor Who, if anyone is curious Rys looks like Colin Morgan.

Chapter 5: World War III

Shareen screamed, throwing herself forward in a roll to avoid the green blob with sharp claws as it lunged for her. Then it started screeching as lightning arced through it and she took this as her chance to run. Heading towards the elevators she pressed the button, thankful at the fact there wasn't one of those overhead things that'd tell the creature which floor she was going to. As she got into the elevators she turned around and took a picture of the strange creature moments before the elevator doors shut.  
Then her legs collapsed beneath her and she was lying against the wall, hugging her knees and sniffing as tears fell down her cheeks. When the doors opened no one knew she was sitting there till a patron looked over and called for Jackie.  
But it was a brunette that appeared and took her out, her short hair tickling Shareen’s face as she supported her shaking body through the kitchen into a back room where she was placed on a small couch.  
“You okay?” Shareen shook her head, regretting it immediately as she leaned over and threw up into the bin conveniently placed right where she needed it.  
Mickey was next to her in the next moment, rubbing her back and handing her a cup of water while Jackie closed the door behind them.  
“Tell me what happened sweetheart, okay?” Shareen saw that the brunette, Delia? Was sitting in the back talking quietly on her phone and giving them a bit of privacy.  
It made her feel a bit better and she swallowed, looking at Jackie and Mickey who going by what happened earlier, had a faint idea of what she was going to tell them and not dismiss her claims.  
She took her phone out and showed them a picture, hand still trembling,  
“The p-policeman, h-he was questioning me a-about w-what I-i saw and then h-he unzipped his forehead and t-this came out.” Mickey took the phone, staring at the image while Jackie paled,   
“Is it still up there?” instead of directing this to Shareen she looked to Delia who snapped her phone shut with a frown.  
“Damn security guard decided to take a small smoke break, knew we shouldn’t have hired out for emergencies. I put the whole building on red alert and the guests are being dismissed right now as we close down the bar and dance floor.” she walked over to see the photo and the sneer that appeared made Shareen shrink back a bit, “Ugh, these guys again, send that picture to the Doctor, from the news it’s safe to say the rest are already or on their way to Downing Street. If he hasn’t figured it out already, here,” she took the phone and typed something in, “Don’t want to have to spell it out, Mickey, grab that laptop and when they call you do what he says,” Mickey nodded and grabbed the laptop plugged into the wall, not questioning her words and Shareen was left with Jackie who rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.  
“W-what if the alien comes back?” she asks, Delia gave her a warm smile.  
“Don’t worry, that’s covered,” she then tilted her head and gave Shareen a searching look, “Do you want me to get you something to drink?” Shareen shook her head.  
“No, not the best at holding my weight,” the admission embarrassed her a bit but before anything continued the phone rang, Jackie answering it and putting it on speaker.  
Hearing the conversation was kind of surreal, Rose, her friend was trapped in Downing Street with an actual alien who called himself the Doctor and a woman named Harriet Jones. At first the Doctor was a bit rude, demanding to know how they knew the alien’s origins and Shareen thought it strange that Delia didn’t speak up at all, rather letting them take charge of the conversation.  
“Told you Doctor, there are people here on Earth who know their aliens, and here, the planet they’re from is listed in the brochure,” Jackie muttered the last part, making Shareen blink.  
There was a brochure?

The Slitheen disguised as Inspector Strickland sniffed the air, trying to track down that human that had gotten away from him. Whether she went upstairs or downstairs is difficult to say and he found his access both to the elevator and the stairs blocked with a wave of electricity that told him he wouldn’t survive even one touch of it.  
He was almost tempted to leave, go join his family members preparing for the final phases of the plan, something about this place made him uneasy, including that draconic statue staring down at him.  
The golden scales and the changing color of the eyes made him shiver, and he tried to pass it off as coincidence because there was no way the statue represented what he imagined it did. Because if it did, which he wasn’t saying it was, then his family needed to leave now.  
He went outside, putting on the air of seriousness apart from the occasional gas here and there and told the human officers to go home as nothing else could be achieved by talking to the witness.   
It was so tempting to just lop off their heads, delight in their fear and such, but the last thing he needed was one officer reporting the incident.  
His brother called in, wanting to know his plans and he told them of his hunt, and before they could hang up he got their attention.  
“What?” he could hear his sister’s voice in the background.  
“Is it possible that the Tempest is on Earth?” the line went quiet before both his brother and Blon started laughing.  
“Impossible! The Tempest is a myth, finish your hunt and join us as soon as possible,” he sighed,  
“Right, yes,” he ended communication and groaned, his siblings were not going to let him hear the end of it, no doubt Blon and his brother would tell the rest of the family and they were going to make fun of him for being so superstitious.  
Then he caught the scent and grinned, the female was hoping to hide on the roof was she? There was more than one way to get up there.  
He went into the alley, gaze sliding right off the strange blue box and took out the light so that no one would see him using the ladder leading up to the roof.  
He would reveal his form once on top, this alleyway felt much more restricting than this human skin.  
“This is the Captain speaking, you have the intruder in sight?” “Hold on a moment, who made you leader?” “Just let him Howie, he beat us in the game remember?” “Yes and those who have no actual professional certifications should not question their superiors,” “Oh yeah? How abou-” “Look can we all just get along guys?” “Can it Pali,” “I hate this name, can I not change it?” “No,” “Ah man.”   
Sip Fel-Fotch grunted as he finally got onto the roof, throwing his hat off and soon the skin followed.  
“Alright, now where are you human? I can smell you,” the scent radiated fear, exciting him even more and he quickened his pace.   
There shouldn’t be too many places to hide but prolonging the hunt meant increasing the amount of time he could have that delicious scent.  
“Where are you?” he peered through the windows into the staircase but spotted nothing and turned to the rest of the roof. Boxes lay here and there and he kicked over every one, the scent increasing even more the closer he reached the shed at the far end of the roof.  
With a wide grin he threw it open, only to pause in confusion at the water guns pointed in his direction.  
“Eat lead fuckermother!” no time to dodge as he was sprayed with liquid, liquid with a familiar smell.  
“Oh fu-” he exploded, covering the rooftop in his remains.  
“Fuckermother? Really?” four Worms came out, three of them staring at the fourth who looked confused.  
“What? Is that not the saying?” “No it isn’t the saying you dimwit! You switched the wording, and eat lead?” “What? I didn’t want to say vinegar,” “Ugh,” his friends all groaned and left, taking the water guns and heading down the stairs, him following behind them trying to defend his word choice. Then one of them stopped and turned back to the dead alien mess.  
“Are we supposed to clean that up?” “Nah, we did the work someone else will clean,” “I’m not sure that’s how it works,” “Who's going to see this gunk anyways? No one comes up here.”   
The door slammed shut and a blinking light on top of the door shut off.

“Seriously?” Yun-Seo leaned back in the chair, staring at the mess on the attic and crossing her arms, shaking her head and making a note to have the Worms bring up the mop bucket with them tomorrow. They dealt with the Slitheen yes but had a bad habit of not cleaning up after themselves..  
Speaking of one who didn’t clean up, her eye twitched at the plan written in plain text on the phone.  
What is it with this guy and explosives?  
“Is there a reason we cannot have some of the girls go in with water guns or even put vinegar in their pipes and trip the fire alarm?” Blowing up Downing Street was a bit too extreme.  
“Because for one thing our girls are on the down low and we’ve agreed not to interfere with this particular incarnation’s plans apart from the occasional hint for time related reasons. For another, there are still groups out there who would love to get a hold of one of our group. The third reason? There’s not enough time, we’ll evacuate as many as we can but property damage is the least of our worries,” she really didn’t like that answer.  
“Is Jackie okay with it?” there was silence on the other end and she frowned, practically sensing the smugness, “Shut up,” Delia chuckled.  
“Didn’t say anything,” the sing-song tone made her grit her teeth.  
“You don’t have to, I’m just asking because her daughter just came back today er yesterday,” it’s been a really long night.  
“Don’t be so embarrassed, it’s alright to feel concern for your friends,” the line went dead before she could even protest the notion of her and Jackie being friends.  
She’s only talked to the woman a few times and maybe Delia’s had her show Jackie the ropes around the different businesses and where stock was kept. Maybe she’s taken Jackie to some of her favorite stores that have real Asian groceries because the woman wanted to try making authentic dishes without ordering take-out. And maybe she agreed to visit the woman once or twice a week to tutor her in Mandarin and sometimes Japanese or Korean as they watch different dramas together.  
All of that does not mean they are friends.  
Right?  
With a firm shake of her head Yun-Seo went to make preparations for the clean-up (unless UNIT decides to step in, then they won’t have to do it) when her phone rang.  
“Yes?” she listened for a moment before frowning, “He’s not answering his phone? Did he leave a message?” with growing alarm she turned to a screen, patching her code in and frowning at the construction site that Alex worked at. Turning the clock back her brow furrowed upon seeing Alex going back into the office after all his co-workers left, and his exit being stopped by men in a car she did not recognize.  
“What was Alex doing so late do you know?” she rewound the tape again, trying to enhance the license plate but stopped, "He didn't tell you anything? Right don’t panic Rys, it’s fine, we’ll find him, okay?” the security door opened and she stopped Delia from speaking, “Rys calm down, I’ll be right up, we will find him, okay, take deep breaths,” she hung up, meeting the other woman’s eyes with a serious frown, “We have a problem.”

Normally at any other time after saving the world the Doctor would’ve gone straight to his TARDIS once everything was over and waited for his companions to be ready to travel.  
This time was different.  
“So you can’t tell me anything else about this website? Or about this version of me that helped make it? Or who told you about the Slitheen?” a shot glass was placed in front of him and he frowned as Jackie leaned forward, “What’s this?”  
“No, I was given the website address and that’s it, and this is one of your options. Either you drink this,” she tapped the glass with one finger, “Or I slap you,” he raised an eyebrow as Rose groaned.  
“Mum! He just saved the world,” he picked up the glass,   
“What’s in it?” Jackie smirked,  
“Freshly squeezed juice of ten different pears, nothing added,” he set it down with a grimace,  
“I’ll take the slap,” before Rose could intervene the Doctor found himself almost thrown off the chair from how hard Jackie’s slap was if Mickey hadn’t caught him by the shoulder.  
“Get the message?” he righted himself, nodding to Mickey and faced Jackie, withholding the urge to whine as he recalled her words the other day.  
“Yeah, I got it.” He decided to head back to his TARDIS while Rose went up to the flat to pack, only for Mickey to follow him.  
“You got something to say to me as well?” he had noticed him fidgeting the day before and figured he was going to get mad at him for taking Rose or something like that.  
"Yeah, I've had a long year to think about what happened that night and," he crossed his arms, leaning against the TARDIS and idly noting that BAD WOLF had been graffitied on the alley wall, "I'm sorry," the Time Lord was not proud to admit he stumbled.  
"What?" Mickey rubbed the back of his head, looking a bit uncomfortable.  
"I was a mess back then, eaten by a trash can and suddenly thrust into a world where aliens existed. You and Rose saved my life and I reacted like an idiot. Instead of saying thank you I called you a thing in a panic when you invited Rose to travel with you. Not proud of it and I wish I can take it back, but I can't. So yeah, I'm sorry, and thank you, for last year and this year, for protecting Rose," now the Doctor felt like a arse, he'd thought the boy had been nursing a jealous grudge towards him but instead he was trying to figure out how to apologize.   
"Ah, well apology accepted," He went on to say more but Jackie came out with cups in her hands and wide eyes.  
"I don't know how long it takes you to start up the TARDIS but you might want to hurry, William's on his way and if he sees you," the Doctor did not know who this William was but judging by how Mickey paled it didn't sound good.  
"Should I be concerned?" and where was Rose?  
"Let's just say his suggestion was for me to use a knuckle duster instead of slapping you," she gave him the cups, "Here's some tea and a takeaway bag," he took them with bemusement and a note about this William being violent.   
"Right," he expected her to start trying to persuade him into not taking Rose but she just gave him a stern look.  
"She’s nineteen, which means I can’t control her actions or what she does, so since she wants to travel with you I won’t stop her. But I expect to at least hear from her every now and then,” well at least she wasn’t trying to invite herself along.  
‘I can’t believe Mum still slapped him’ Rose inwardly groaned as she stepped off the elevator, bag in hand, stopping when she spotted Shareen sitting at one of the tables, staring at something in her hands.  
“Shareen?” her friend jumped and looked up,  
“Oh Rose,” her eyes fell on the bag, a frown on her face, “Your still going huh? After everything?” Rose gave an awkward shrug.  
“Yeah, traveling with him is unlike anything else,” she bit her lip, wondering whether Shareen was interested in coming along, but the other girl stood up giving her a serious look.  
“Don’t you think you should give Mickey the courtesy of breaking up with him before leaving?” feeling like she’d been slapped, Rose frowned at her.  
“What are you talking about, I’m not breaking up with him,” why would she want to break up with Mickey, she’s just traveling after all.  
Shareen crossed her arms,  
“I know what your like Rose, and I just think it’ll be fair on both you and him if the both of you don’t wait for the other,” but Rose hated that suggestion.  
Mickey was still her boyfriend and the blonde wasn’t going to let Shareen talk her into breaking up with him.  
“He’s my boyfriend, I know he went through some stuff but I never meant to be gone that long, and Mickey still wants to be with me,” Shareen shook her head, turning to the table and picking up the brochure.  
“Well if you're not going to budge on that, did you want to read this? It’s a brochure on aliens,” Rose eyed it before shaking her head. “You sure? A lot of these explain a bunch of weird news reports, did you know last year’s incident with these living plastics wasn’t the first time? The Doctor sure dealt with a lot of invasions,” something inside Rose itched at the idea and she almost reached out to take it but stopped herself.  
Reading a brochure on aliens? She inwardly scoffed, what would she have to do that for?  
“Nah, don’t need it, have fun reading it though,” having the Doctor explain it to her was more fun.  
“Alright, saw Jackie go out with some takeout if your looking for her,” Rose felt her blood run cold and ran out to see her Mum and the Doctor talking together in low voices.  
Oh God what was she saying to him?  
“I’m off Jackie, thanks for the brochure,” Jackie gave a brief wave to her before resuming their conversation and Mickey approached her.  
“She’s not forbidding you from going, just laying out some of her fears is all,” Rose sighed.  
“Doesn’t make me feel any better,” she saw the same exact brochure in his hand and frowned, “You too?” he saw what she was looking at and shrugged.  
“It came in handy last night when we had to deal with that Slitheen, do you want a look? The Doctor just went through it and was surprised that it was actually accurate,” Rose changed the subject by kissing him.  
“I’ll be fine, don’t need it,” “Don’t need what?” Rose looked to see the Doctor heading into the TARDIS and returned her Mum’s goodbye hug.  
“I was talking to her about the brochure,” she saw her Mum’s look and inwardly groaned.  
“You don’t want to read it, not even some of it? It could come in handy,” she laughed her annoyance off.  
“The Doctor will tell me when we encounter them, I don’t need to study,” thankfully the matter was dropped and she gave a few assurances before stepping into the time machine.  
“Ready?” he was already flicking switches here and there and she nodded as he took them into the Time Vortex.  
“Sorry about my mum,” she felt the need to say but he waved it off,  
“Never been slapped by a companion’s mother but it was better than the alternative,” she gave him a disbelieving look.  
“She almost knocked you to the floor,” he stepped back from the console, taking one of the cups her Mum must’ve brought.  
“Better than pear juice,” he said in disgust, taking a sip only to spit it out and she stepped forward in alarm as he seemed to freeze.  
“Please tell me that wasn’t pear juice,” she was going to kill Mum if that was the case.  
“No,” he stared at the cup with the same intense look he’d given the website, “This tea, I’ve had it before,” Rose frowned, taking her own cup and sipping it, nearly gagging a bit at the unfamiliar taste.  
“Probably one of the teas they serve in the restaurant, it’s just tea,” she tried to pass it off but he took another sip, face twisting.  
“No, this taste, it’s familiar but I can’t place it, where-” he cut off with a pained grimace, holding his head and Rose went to take the cup from him.  
“Well if it’s giving you a headache don’t drink it,” he lifted it out of her reach.  
“It’s not the tea, just the memory, it’ll come to me, rather like the taste,” despite saying this he glanced at the TARDIS doors, as if looking back at something and Rose knew what he wanted to do.  
Travel back to the alley and ask her Mum where the tea came from.  
“So where are we off to this time?” he looked away and Rose let out a breath at that familiar smile.  
“How about the future?” she grinned.  
“Sounds perfect.”

Jackie let out a breath, trying not to cry and accepted the tissue from Mickey with thanks.  
“You did great, thought you would try to beg her to stay,” Jackie shook her head.  
“No, she’s old enough to be travelling, I’m surprised you didn’t want to go with them,” he grimaced.  
“No, not ready for that kind of thing yet,want to finish my studies before I think about it, and I have some work to do, want to save up. Though I’ll keep this on me,” he lifted the brochure, making her laugh a little.  
“Yes, I do wish Rose had accepted it, it doesn’t hurt to know the basics of it, some of these aliens are terrifying,” but that’s how Rose was, pushing her wouldn’t do anything.  
“Yeah, like these aliens right, here Da-leks, do not want to run into one, especially with all the underlined words warning readers to stay away and not touch them, especially time travelers,” Jackie found the page and shivered.  
“Yes, but they’re all gone aren’t they?” Mickey had a grim look on his face.  
“Let’s hope.”


	7. Dalek

Author's Note: I do not own Doctor Who  
Chapter 6: Dalek  
The sudden roaring of the engine woke him up and it took a bit to find out where he was, only for an aching in his hand to remind him.  
Right he’d been kidnapped, and these assholes decided cutting off his finger was going to make him talk. God it was a good thing that he didn’t have to concentrate so much now, otherwise they might have figured out he was not exactly normal.  
It’d been what, a week since these guys kidnapped him?   
He should’ve been wearing the tracking bracelet but it always got in the way of construction and his boss threatened to fire him if he wore it to work again.  
Yep, Yun-Seo was going to kill him, if Rys’s tearful face wasn’t.   
Shit, the full moon was in a few days and he was in the middle of the ocean with no way to track Rys down.  
He was screwed.  
A chuckle reached his ears, his kidnappers were done on the phone,  
“Looks like they actually paid the ransom,” oh, that’s good, or not good, the guy actually paid his ransom?  
“Contact the ones who hired us, we’ll take care of him,” the blindfold was ripped off and he had to deadpan upon seeing chains around his legs and the fact they also chained him to a chair hanging over a plank.  
“Come on guys, if my ransom was posted, the polite thing to do is actually return me, no need for this pirate nonsense,” the click of the gun against his forehead made him sigh, “Wow, really? If your going to shoot me what’s the point of these chains? You don’t actually think I’m going to rise up-” the bullet went through his brain and in the next moment the chair kicked into the water.  
“No but it makes it more difficult to find your body, chatty bastard,” the shooter wiped the gun down, sniffed, then threw it into the water as well just in case.  
“Come on, let’s go, this ‘charter’ was only supposed to last three days,” the boat turned around and he collapsed in a nearby chair, “And remind me to track down that couple for my share of the profit, maybe all of it.” then he straightened at the sound of a motor and frowned, staring at the boat approaching them, “This is private ocean, no one else was supposed to be here,” but he kept himself relaxed, hearing no sirens and not seeing any signs marking it as belonging to any particular organizations.  
But he kept a hand near his waist where his other gun was.   
“Hello!” the man was in one of those old fashioned trench coats and probably had what he thought was a charming smile.  
He also had an American accent like the boy he just dumped into the ocean.  
He did not like the coincidence.  
“What do you want? This is private waters,” he called out, keeping his expression blank, “I suggest leaving before you get into any trouble,” the man had the audacity to jump onto his boat, still having that grin on his face.  
“Bit strange, guys like you in these waters, although, it was rather rude, not keeping to the schedule,” the smile dropped and his eyes became cold, “Where is he? And I better like the answer,” he went to shoot him only to find his arm pinned behind his back as a woman he didn’t realize was even there snuck up behind him.  
“I was getting to the good part,” she scoffed at the American’s words and he grunted in pain as the grip on his arms only tightened and his bones screamed in protest.  
“Answer his question, where is Alex?” he smirked.  
“With the fishes,” his head was slammed against the floor.  
Thirty minutes earlier in the ocean  
The hole in her forehead disappeared and glowing green eyes snapped open, long raven-colored hair floating in the water. Chains meant to keep a grown man chained slackened as her much more slender body slid through, first one leg than the other came through the chains till finally she was free in the water.   
Breathing became difficult and she swam towards the surface, seeking air, only to spot a shark heading right towards her.  
‘Oh for shard’s sake’ it’s mouth closed around her.

“Alex!” golden hued blue eyes snapped open, Rys almost jumping out of his seat as the train horn blared through his ears.  
“Rys? You okay?” the hand going through his hair calmed him and he flushed when he saw Jackie and Mickey looking at him in concern, “Rys?” he glanced at Yun-Seo, feeling rather embarrassed.  
“Sorry, I had a dream, about Alex,” lead settled in his stomach at the image of his spouse in the ocean, the shark about to eat him.  
“Hey, it’s fine, it’s Alex, remember what Delia said,” right, he almost forgot, Delia stated that he would reunite with Alex in Italy, which is one of the reasons he was going on this trip despite the full moon coming.  
Alex promised to be with him during every full moon and Rys knew that Alex would never forgive himself for missing it, again.  
Jackie and Mickey were still looking at him and he gave them a shaky smile,  
“Sorry, yeah, I’ll be fine,” Jackie didn’t look convinced but then it was a rush to get their bags as the other passengers started getting off.  
He’ll see Alex again, and hopefully it won’t be too late.  
With Jackie  
Jackie helped carry the bags into the car and waited for Rys to take a seat first, eyeing the poor dear with concern. His face was paler than usual and the bags under his eyes told her of the little sleep he’s gotten since Alex disappeared two weeks ago.  
Then his kidnappers took an entire week before calling for ransom and she’d seen the cold rage on not just Delia, but Yun-Seo as well before the latter went to call someone.   
Over the past year she learned a lot about aliens and hidden cultures on Earth no one else knew about. Of course she knew that Delia still hid some things and that Yun-Seo herself was a big part of whatever group owned the apartment building and ran the security business. But she hoped that with time she would get to learn more about these women, especially Yun-Seo. The woman was closed off at times but Jackie admitted to herself a while ago that she enjoyed conversations with the architecture student more than any of her old friends. Yun-Seo treated her more seriously, made her feel like more than a middle-aged widow who spent years clinging to the memory of her husband instead of building herself up.  
Her own daughter was ashamed of her, Jackie knew that, and had always resented being unable to do cool things like the other kids. When Rose ran away the first time Jackie had been a mess and instead of getting mad at the girl when she returned, she accepted her with open arms and beyond suggestions, didn’t force her to finish her A-levels.  
Now Rose is traveling through time and space and Jackie is living her life to the fullest, or at least trying to.  
She still worried for her daughter after all.  
She wondered what the girl was doing now.

Utah, 2012  
The Doctor watched Rose disappear with that Adam kid, the uneasiness he felt not helped at all by the strange feeling in the back of his head.   
“So in this entire place filled with anything alien related, you only managed one living specimen,” if Van Statten caught his mocking tone he didn’t say anything, though the Doctor noticed his assistant biting her lip. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her light green eyes shone with disdain and hatred everytime she looked at her boss but turned blank when he looked in her direction.   
“Yes, it is,” something about the arrogant human’s tone caught his attention, and he tried to press further but the man changed the subject as they left the elevator, “We’ve tried everything, but the creature has shielded itself,” if it was at any other time the Doctor would be paying attention, but something tugged at him from a different direction and he noticed several soldiers breaking off from them to head somewhere else.  
Whatever suspicions he had disappeared as soon as he heard that voice, that damned voice saying his name.  
Why, why of all creatures to exist in the Time War did it have to be the Dalek? Why couldn’t it have been his own people, just one.  
“You need to kill it, the Dalek must be stopped before it hurts anyone!” but the only stupid ape listening to him was the woman who stood close to him for a moment, before the men tied him down.  
Her green eyes assessed him before turning to Van Statten.  
“Sir, if anything I suggest wiping his mind and letting him go, his name appears on the list and there’s a tracker on his ‘box’ that’ll alert U.N.I.T. to where he is,” Van Statten scowled.  
“U.N.I.T., those so called alien experts,” whatever the woman said put him in a foul mood but they took the restraints off the Doctor at his say so.  
“Thank-you,” he told her in a low voice, she frowned at him, glancing around to make sure the other soldiers weren’t paying any attention.  
“Don’t thank me yet, you need to-” an alarm interrupted whatever warning she had and the Doctor could only stare in horror when the screen turned on, showing the Dalek fully recovered and out of its chains.  
“Shit,” the woman muttered, face pale, “Your companion touched it, I wanted you to leave before that happened, dammit,” the Doctor took note of her words as Rose appeared, admitting it was her fault, and could only shout at her to run before the Dalek smashed the computer.  
A beeping sound caught their attention and the woman ran to the computer,  
“Sir it’s draining the power, it’s draining all of Utah,” but Van Statten was more interested in ordering the soldiers not to harm his ‘specimen’ despite it meaning that they’ll lose their lives. Then a new sound appeared, and he didn’t know what to feel,  
“Not this again, of all times,” Van Statten looked annoyed but the Doctor was just confused as to why a children’s song was playing.  
“Run run run, I’m here to find you, run run run,” then Van Statten’s eyes widened and the blood drained from his face,   
“Wait, please tell me the power drain didn’t affect Floor 60,” the Doctor thought he saw a brief smile on the woman’s face but it disappeared just as quickly.  
“Yes sir,” her boss started cursing under his breath, muttering about things but the Doctor felt impatient.  
“What’s on Floor 60, we need to focus on the Dalek,” and he needed to get Rose out of there. Van Statten looked unwilling to answer and the Time Lord almost growled at him, “Tell me now!” the man groaned.  
“Nothing, dammit why did I ever agree to hold onto that thing, if it was up to me I would’ve never kept it down here, but I owed that jackass a favor and he’s late in picking it up,” he ran to the computers, typing something in and cursing, “It’s already out,” then to the Doctor’s shock the man ran and ordered the soldiers to get bigger guns, anything and to get the anti-venom from the pharmacy.  
Well he had to see what Van Statten considered more terrifying than the Dalek. An image was brought up and despite it being blurry the Doctor frowned, not out of annoyance or anger but confusion.  
He did not know what this creature was.  
At one angle it looked like an overgrown hyena with gray fur and spots all over, but he also spotted what looked like scales on the back of the legs and the hyena's tail had spikes at the tip of it.  
“You don’t know what it is either?” the triumph in Van Statten’s voice made him scowl.  
‘’What do you know about it?” the creature was fast, disappearing from one camera view and appearing in the next.   
“Just that you need to stay away from its claws and teeth, one guy had to have his arm amputated because of it.” his assistant was still, eyes cold and the Doctor shot her a glance before their attention was drawn to the Dalek who had just killed an entire room of soldiers by shooting the water.  
Then the creature appeared and the Doctor watched in a sense of awed horror as its claws tore through his now screaming feared enemy, it’s teeth reaching in and tearing out the tentacled creature from within.  
“NO! No!” Van Statten was shouting into the intercom, ordering whatever remaining soldiers were there to stop the creature, his face red, “It destroyed my specimen, the damn monster destroyed it,” the Doctor could not even feel relieved about the Dalek being gone. Because now there was an unknown alien capable of killing a Dalek.  
Those soldiers don’t stand a chance.  
“You need to tell them to retreat, we can redirect the power to shut down the doors,” he didn’t want to see Rose torn apart by this unknown creature.  
Van Statten’s yelp caught his attention and the Doctor’s stomach dropped as the man’s assistant had her arm around her boss’ throat and a strange gun pressed against his head.  
“Those doors stay open,” her voice was cold and the Doctor couldn’t even react as another woman ran in,  
“Sir a strange woma-” the gun moved and the woman fell twitching from an electric blast.  
“Funny how I managed to infiltrate this place without anyone noticing, kind of pathetic. But I wouldn’t try anything if I were you, this weapon is on its lowest setting, and you do not want to see it’s highest one,” the soldiers stepped forward but her arm flexed and Van Statten started choking, “Move away boys, I really don’t need a gun to kill him,” she led him to the doors, the Doctor moving to intercept but she gave him a cool look, “Your with me Doctor, no heroics, and those doors better stay open!” she barked at the soldiers, them backing away, “Your lives are not worth this man’s, this facility is done so I suggest leaving,” no one went to stop them as she forced the man into an elevator, the Doctor standing next to her.  
“You don’t have to do this,” he urged her, “That creature is going to kill mor-” she shot a spot near his head.  
“She hasn’t killed anyone except that alien,” she was glaring at him, “Now you,” she turned to her hostage, “One question, did she eat any human flesh,” he remained silent and she bared her teeth, some of which were pointed, “Well,” he grunted.  
“No, i-” her tightened grip had him wincing, “Apart from biting a few personnel she’s made no move to eat anyone,” the Doctor was wondering how this woman knew the creature was female when the elevator opened and soldiers were pointing guns at them.  
The woman clicked her tongue, handing the gun to the Doctor before throwing a grenade, letting off a loud sound that caused every one of them to collapse.  
“Why’d you hand this to me, I could stop you,” she rolled her eyes, forcing the man in front of her to move,  
“Go ahead, but you don’t even know why I’m doing this, now you Van Statten, tell those soldiers to stand down, no one approaches her but me.” the Doctor tried not to let the relief hit him upon seeing Rose running towards him, a big smile on her face that dropped upon seeing the situation.  
“What’s going on? T-that Dalek stopped chasing us,” the Doctor accepted her hug for a moment, eyes still on the two as Adam arrived as well.  
“There was another creature down there, it tore the Dalek into pieces,” Rose shivered while Adam paled.  
“That monster got out?!” he squeaked before falling to the ground as the woman took offense to his words and threw Van Statten at him.  
“Monster? You people are the monsters, you knew she was down there and did nothing!” Rose glared at the woman.  
“It’s not like he could’ve done anything, and he told me what that animal has done,” there was something in the way that the woman stared Rose down that had the Doctor grabbing his companion and putting her behind him.  
“I don’t need your fake righteousness Rose Tyler, none of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t touched it,” Rose stiffened and the Doctor frowned, a bit torn about agreeing with her and getting mad about her insulting his companion.  
“She didn’t know, leave her alone,” but the woman sneered.  
“It’s in th-” there was a howl and she whirled around, running down the hall, the Doctor not even hesitating in following her.  
Soldiers were blocking the ends of the hallway, all aimed at the creature who was growling at them and gnawing on a piece of the Dalek.  
“Ready! Aim!” but they stopped upon seeing the woman and the Doctor, “Get out of the way!” the strange canine’s ears were flattened against its head, whining in its throat that cut off when the woman took something from her bag.  
That object had the Doctor dropping short, staring at her in disbelief.  
She ignored his stare in favor of pulling the string on the back,  
“There’s a snake in the water hole,” the cowboy doll suddenly had the creature’s attention whose ears perked up upon seeing the woman.  
“Hey pup,” her voice was gentle, “Come here, I’ve got your favorite toy,” the creature whined, sinking to her belly and crawled forward, “It’s okay, I’ve got you, and look,” she brought out a bright pink horse that made the creature go faster, “Yes, there you go, come on,” everyone else stared at the scene in disbelief, even the Doctor who now that he had a closer look, realized the creature and the woman had similar glowing green eyes.  
The pieces started falling into place- only for angry breathing to reach his ears.  
“This creature ruined my specimen, I don’t care if that asshole breaks the deal, I’m putting this monster’s skin on my wall,” Van Statten raised a large gun, the Doctor going to stop him as the woman lunged to cover the creature.  
A large blast was heard as holes appeared in the woman’s body before she slumped over, blood pouring from her head.  
But the creature was nowhere to be found.  
Rose and Adam appeared but the Doctor was glaring at Van Statten.  
“The alien, the pup was calming down, there was no need to shoot her,” he turned, staring at the still form of the woman, sorrow building up at the lost life.  
Wait- he spotted something small, a tiny hand and ran towards her, kneeling down and lifting the body up to see big green eyes blinking open, dark hair in ringlets around her shoulders. Then those eyes turned to the woman and he flinched at how they widened.  
“Mommy?” her voice rang through the hall, the soldiers dropping their guns immediately, horror on their faces as the little girl struggled to sit up, eyes on no one but the woman, “Mommy wake up,” she was trying to shake her, tears going down her face, “Mommy?” those eyes met his, pleading and terrified, “Help Mommy, please?” he checked the woman’s pulse and let out a breath.  
She was still breathing.  
Moments later he was running towards the TARDIS, the woman in his arms and the girl with her arms around his neck.  
Van Statten had tried to take the girl but the soldiers grabbed him and pulled him away. The man yelling obscenities and wanting to be reimbursed for his ‘specimen’, but it looked like none of his employees were willing to work for him anymore.  
The TARDIS medbay was alright lit up by the time he reached it and he set the woman down, using his sonic screwdriver to assess the damage. There were bullet fragments on the side of her head and her arm had a hole in it as well (he tried not to think about how close that arm had been to the girl’s head.) Then he went to the holes in the woman’s back.  
He couldn’t help but laugh, popping open the vest under her shirt where several of the bullets were wedged in.   
Might’ve cracked her ribs but didn’t go through.  
“Your Mum’s quite prepared,” he told the girl who was quietly watching, the dolls in her arms. “What’s your name?” he asked, cleaning up the blood on the woman’s head.  
“Joy,” was the quiet whisper, eyes still on her Mum.  
“Well she’s a very brave woman, and strong, she’ll pull through, now come on, have to get my companion,” he watched her place one of her animals on the woman’s chest before grabbing his hand as he left the hall.  
He tried not to be surprised that she was being so trusting to him after what she’s been through, but figured helping her Mum was enough.  
Stepping outside of the TARDIS, he found Rose and Adam talking, Rose gesturing to the TARDIS and raised an eyebrow.  
She wasn’t doing what he thought she was doing, right?  
Joy sniffed next to him and tugged on his hand, walking towards one of the display cases where she eyed it with a frown,  
“Mommy’s scent is here,” she said in a confused tone, her hand scratching at the wood.   
“Hm,” he used the sonic to remove the panel, pulling out a large leather bag, “Must’ve put it here just in case,” he found it strange she put it next to to the TARDIS but figured hiding a bag in a display case no one was supposed to go near was the best spot.  
Unzipping it he found a bunch of strange toys and different thermos, one with the same pink pony that Joy grabbed and immediately started drinking from. The scent of its contents hit his nose and he saw her tense at the same time as him, green eyes watching him with weariness. He cocked his head, wondering and sent the feeling of tickling to her ear.  
She batted at it giggling and he sat back, a bit stunned, glancing at his screwdriver and pointed it at her, she blinked at it and whined when he turned it on close to her, he gave a feeling of apology and went to glance at the results when Rose called to him.  
“Doctor? They’re going to fill the place with concrete soon,” Adam was right next to her, the boy avoiding looking at Joy.  
“Right, well we’ll be off then,” he picked up the bag, slinging it over his shoulder and taking Joy’s hand as the girl resumed drinking.  
“Oh, are we dropping them off somewhere as well?” Rose glanced at Adam, “I was thinking, Adam could come with us, he’s been talking about wanting to travel the stars,” she looked back at him, an imploring look on her face.  
“No, her Mum’s still unconscious and I’d rather not leave them here,” plus he was interested in how she was able to tear apart a Dalek.  
A Dalek.  
Rose frowned, glancing down at Joy for a moment before taking Adam’s hand,  
“So?” the Time Lord was a bit confused about Rose’s interest in this guy, wasn’t she dating Mickey?  
But he wasn’t totally against the idea.  
A hiccup came from the girl and he looked away, not seeing how Rose’s face fell as he picked her up, not even bothering to protest about the added addition.  
“You drank that too fast,” he scolded Joy who pouted at him, still hiccupping, before her face twisted in pain, “What’s wrong?” she opened her mouth, revealing to his surprise very little teeth, most of it gums, then he saw a tooth slowly coming out and blinked.  
“Teething?” she nodded, “Let’s go in and see if this bag has anything for that,” Rose followed after them, looking a bit worried, though thankfully for her it was Adam that voiced the question.  
“Should you hold her close, Doctor? She ripped that Met- Dalek apart like it was nothing, and like I’ve told Rose, several men-” Joy shrunk against his shoulders and he glared at the boy, cutting him off.  
“I could just leave you here,” he promised, Rose grabbed Adam’s hand,   
“I’ll talk to him Doctor, if you need my help just say so,” she had her tongue in cheek smile but was tense as she led her new boyfriend away.  
Scoffing to himself he put the TARDIS into the time vortex before taking Joy to the TARDIS kitchen, setting her down in a chair and propping the bag open to gain better access.  
“Did I do something wrong?” Joy’s question made him pause and he glanced at her,  
“What do you mean,” she was fiddling with the cup.  
“He said I destroyed a Dalek, but I’m supposed to,” he looked at her in alarm, what did she mean by that?  
“What do you mean you're supposed to?” she frowned, looking confused,   
“Mommy said when my mouth hurts to bite the Dalek,” he knew he was missing something and his hand touched an object with a familiar shape.  
With some disbelief he took out a mini-Dalek with bite marks, handing it to the girl who immediately put it in her mouth, sounds not unlike the Dalek screaming every time she applied force.  
“That explains some things,” though it seemed her animal form actually had teeth, “How long have you been teething? How old are you?”  
She held up five fingers.  
“Two weeks, Nana said it’ll continue for another six months, then start up again when I’m ten and fifteen,” she didn’t look all that happy about it which was understandable.  
“Probably going to have very strong and sharp teeth,” he commented, she went back to chewing on the Dalek, the Doctor drowned out the toy’s screaming in favor of looking into the bag some more, taking out some jars whose contents were hidden by a cloth and containers covered in cloth as well.  
Taking the cloth off revealed interesting ingredients and he unscrewed the lid to peer at one more closely,  
“Well at least they’re not human,” he said dryly, staring at the jellied cow and goat eyeballs within, handing them to the girl who grabbed a pair of kiddy chopsticks he hadn’t noticed to pick one up and plop it into her mouth.  
She held out the jar to him but he shook his head, a bit bemused,  
“Nah, I prefer fish ones to be honest,” she picked up a small jar and held it out, and he almost laughed upon seeing it was fish eyeballs, “Well thanks, but we better eat these before the humans come in,” he rarely ate foods that would normally disgust his companions, and whether there were humans who ate animal eyes, he knew Rose was the exception.   
Though he should talk to her about Adam at least, this was his TARDIS and his companions do not get to decide or invite others along.  
Adam gets one trip and that’s it.  
Then a thought came to him and he eyed the scales on the girl’s face, as well as the results on his sonic screwdriver.  
As soon as that woman woke up he was going to ask why her daughter showed signs of being a Primal, and how the woman herself became one.  
And the answer better be good.

2006  
Waves washed over an Italian beach, retreating to reveal a prone figure, their brunette hair matted with the seawater and blood staining their clothes.  
But no visible wounds.  
“Ugh,” clawed hands dug into the sand as their owner pushed themselves up, stumbling a bit before turning to the ocean with a glare. “Stupid shark,” she muttered, god she hated it when she was eaten, it was never fun.  
Then she felt her body heating up and stared at her hands, nails still claws,   
“Oh, that’s not good,” a quick flick of the tongue told her that the canines were still sharp and looked up at the darkening sky.  
A full moon was rising, and she was nowhere near Rys, she missed his first full moon and never forgave herself for that.  
She wasn’t going to miss this one.  
With a snarl she broke into a run, eyes glowing and throat burning as an unfamiliar thirst hit her.   
Moments later a boat hit the beach, its occupants hopping out,  
“Your one hell of a boat pilot,” he raised his hands at the woman’s glare, “Just saying,” his phone rang and he flipped it open, wishing for his own centuries advanced phone, “Harkness,” his doc’s annoyed tone came through.  
“Where the bloody hell are you Jack? We’ve got several Weevil sightings and Tosh broke her arm,” he winced,  
“Yeah it’s going to be a while Owen, I’ll be back as soon as I can,” unfortunately that did little to calm the man down and Jack sent his traveling partner an apologetic grin, earning him an eye roll as she took out her own phone, no doubt calling for a car of some sort.  
“Jack!” her sharp voice had him hanging up and he looked at the spot she was staring where footsteps were embedded into the sand and leading into the forest,  
“She can’t have gone far, let’s go,” they reached the road, the woman heading straight towards a parked car and gesturing for him to come in.   
“It wasn’t your lot then,” her words didn’t offer much comfort, because he’d seen the camera footage and the real culprits made his stomach heavy.  
“No, but I can’t say if that’s better or not,” there were failures in his life that he did not like, and this man was one of them.  
“Hey, you can’t blame yourself, they’ve had plenty of chances to turn themselves around but ended up blowing all of it, we’ll get your money back too,” Jack scoffed.  
“Don’t care about that, they can keep it for all I care, I just want to find Alex,” before Delia could reply something darted into the road and she slammed on her brakes.  
Claws hands dug into the front of the car as slitted green eyes glowed as she growled at them.  
“Found her,” Delia resisted the urge to hit Jack.


	8. Long Game

Author’s Note: If anyone is confused I’m doing scenes from the episodes and showing what is happening in the current time as well. In this series whenever they go to the future I’ll show what’s happening in the present and maybe a few changes in the future. For the past I plan on showing other stuff but this Italy arc will be finished instead with the aftermath of Father’s Day shown near the end.

Chapter 7: Long Game

The Doctor didn’t want to travel anywhere just yet till he knew the woman would be okay on the TARDIS, and the girl refused to leave her side once she had a full stomach.   
So right now she was showing him photos from her mum’s phone, pointing at her schoolmates (she assured him that Slitheen child was under strict orders not to hurt anyone) and her family.  
He gazed at the familiar figure to the left of the woman (whose name could be Alex if he remembered correctly), those scales down the man’s nose a close match with the girl’s. She was sitting on her mom’s shoulders while a little boy was on the man’s, blue eyes like his father’s and brown hair like his mum’s.   
“Whose this?” he pointed at the boy, Joy leaned over to look,  
“Conan,” he almost choked on the eyeball in his mouth.  
“Really? Your parents must’ve had fun with that,” she shrugged.  
“Nan named him, Mommy named me,” he hummed.  
“And your Dad didn’t protest?” “Well naming the children is sort of a rotation in his family,” the third voice had him stiffening even as the girl let out a small shriek and threw herself into her Mum’s arms.  
“Mommy! I-i’m sorry, I promise n-not to w-wander off again, I’m sorry!” it took several moments to calm the girl down, and he raised an eyebrow at the purring sound from the woman.   
“So how many questions do you have?” he leaned back, arms crossed.  
“Primal, how?” Alex sighed.  
“Well the ritual wasn’t done by me if that makes you feel better, I was just on a school field trip and went to stop some school bullies who wandered into a warded off area. We all ended up possessed and let me tell you, it wasn’t fun, we used to have a pig for a mascot, and after everything we needed a new principal,” he cringed, guessing what had happened.  
“Must’ve been pretty traumatic,” she smirked.  
“You have no idea, turns out it was a zoo keeper who wanted the power for himself, we ended up reversing the ritual and he didn’t get what he wanted. Unfortunately, or not, the Primal decided she liked me as a vessel and stayed. Took quite a few years before I realized she was still there, and by then there really wasn’t anything to do. Surprised the,” she covered her daughter’s ears, “Hell out of me when my daughter was born, because I could tell the Primal had sort of, split off into her, the whole transforming thing caught everyone off guard. Oh God her brother is going to be jealous when he realizes this, they’re always competing,” she cocked her head and frowned, “Please tell me that isn’t the Adam Mitchell kid in your TARDIS?” he blinked.  
“Yeah, Rose wanted to bring him along,” her groan was amusing,  
“Oh seriously?” she tried to sit up but he stopped her with a look, so she settled for a grimace, “I don’t know about you, but I have misgivings about a guy who thinks nearly starting WWIII at age eight is funny, and there is a reason Van Statten hired him,” the Doctor hadn’t thought of it like that.  
“I’ll keep an eye on him, just giving him this one trip, shouldn’t be too difficult,” Joy glanced at her mom.  
“Can I go?” she asked, eyes big and they shared a glance, he nodded at her silent question and she sighed.  
“Alright, but do as the Doctor says and do not wander off, okay?” the five year old nodded eagerly and Alex turned her attention to him, “If you feel like something dangerous is about to happen, send her back to the TARDIS, please,” he grinned at her.  
“Swear on both my hearts,” reassured she went to sleep and he picked up her daughter, setting her on his shoulders and made way for the control room, only to see Adam looking at the controls and Rose nowhere to be seen.  
“Oi! Hands off,” he jumped back and his actual companion ran in, seeing the situation immediately.  
“Adam,” the boy had the grace to look sheepish, though it disappeared upon seeing Joy on his shoulders, taking a few steps back and the Doctor didn’t need to look at Joy to see the hurt look on her face.  
No doubt her empathic abilities told her what the boy felt.   
“Right, trip to the future,” he was giving the boy one chance, just one, to prove himself, and he better not mess it up.

“Alex!” Delia called after the woman but it was too late, she’d already run into the woods, “Alex! Come back, shit,” she quickly got behind the wheel, starting the car as Jack went to his phone.  
“Why’d she run? I don’t get it,” he was confused but Delia had seen the woman’s eyes and a glance at the time had her groaning.  
“Full moon is in three hours, hold tight,” hopefully no one catches sight of the feral woman and calls the police.  
The last thing she wanted was UNIT or Torchwood getting a hold of her friend. Or any of the other organizations with ulterior motives.  
“Still, you’d think she would’ve decided to go in the van, might have reached the inn faster,” Delia spotted something ahead of them and groaned.  
“I think I know why,” the car stopped, both of them getting out to stare at the traffic in dismay, some cars were piled up near the end and the sirens in the distance told them it’d just happen.  
“Guess we’ll have to meet them at the inn, I’ll call Yun-Seo, give her the updates,” they got back in, Jack pushing his chair back so that he was staring at the roof while Delia got ready to call her.  
“You know, technically if my w-” “No,” she cut him off, he went on, not deterred “Or you could-” “No,” “You know, this is the perfect chance f-” his headrest was sliced off and he jerked up,  
“Say anything else and it’ll be your head,” he cleared his throat,   
“Right,” he’d almost forgotten that particular ability of hers, at least she hadn’t filled his lungs with water.  
Again.

Giana set out the pie, marveling at finally perfecting her recipe after some thirty odd years. She couldn’t wait for her grandson to arrive with his wife, this will surely help.  
A meow and crash had her whirling around, and she groaned upon seeing Sniffles playing around with the bottle of catnip extract she made for his treats.  
It’s contents soaking into the molasses of the pie.  
“Sniffles!” with a groan she took the cat before it could get a bite of thpe pie, setting the now ruined dessert on the windowsill, “Your lucky I made twice the ingredients,” she told him, a bit miffed, how was she supposed to make sure of her future grandchildren now?  
Sniffles hissed and for a moment she thought it was at her, but he was staring at a point behind her and she looked to see the pie gone from the windowsill and to her shock a gold nugget in its place.  
“Oh dear,” sometimes the youth took it upon themselves to take her desserts, sometimes leaving money in place. If it was anything else she would’ve been delighted at receiving gold, but she didn’t want the poor dear accidentally poisoning themselves.  
She’ll have to call Luca and warn him to keep an eye out for anyone vomiting, and maybe the police because the gold nugget concerned her.  
Hopefully whoever took the pie is alright, though they might be getting a surprise later on.

“We’ll let you know as soon as she arrives, thank-you,” Rys knees shook, his skin felt clammy and all of his senses were on overdrive. He felt like he was going to burst at any moment and it was only the arm around his shoulders that kept him upright.  
The inn they were in was small and they ended up booking all the rooms for the next week so that no one else would be there. He thought it was excessive but was told that Jack and Delia would be arriving within the night and the amount of rooms were limited. The owner of the inn was rather accommodating and didn’t seem at all bothered, in fact he was rather ecstatic at being booked for the next week.   
Their group of four went up the stairs and headed towards the farthest room, Yun-Seo unlocking the door and leading him to the bed.  
“Huh,” she stared at a pie tin on the windowsill, “Might have to talk to the owner about his tenants,” she picked it up while Jackie and Mickey glanced around the room, the former going to him.  
“Do you need us to stay sweetheart?” he tried to smile but only a grimace appeared as he tried to reassure them.  
“I’m fine, thanks,” right now he just wanted to collapse and stare at the ceiling, because who knows when he’ll be able to sleep between Alex missing and the full moon rising.   
“Why don’t the two of you go put your things away and I’ll meet you downstairs? It’s been a long day and we could all use some food after that disastrous lunch, tomorrow’s a big day,” the humans shared a look before agreeing and as soon as the door was shut Yun-Seo went over to shut the curtains, even going so far as to tie the ropes so that the curtains stayed tied together. Then she disappeared into the bathroom for a moment, coming back out and sitting next to him on the bed, running her fingers through his hair in a soothing manner.  
“Do you remember the rules?” he nodded, eyes closing even as he fought the urge to lean against her, because he knew he would ask her to stay.  
“Don’t open the curtains, be careful of reflective surfaces, and don’t touch water, I’ll be fine Yun-Seo,” she sighed,  
“Alright, I’ll send a breakfast tray up tomorrow unless you change your mind about coming with us, goodnight,” she pressed a kiss to his forehead and left, taking the Do Not Disturb sign with her to put on his doorknob.  
Lying down, he let out a breath, trying to relax his muscles, only to flinch at the feeling of something wet hitting his forehead.  
“Wha-” he opened his eyes, only to gasp, “Alex!” his wife grinned at him from her spot on the ceiling, clothes still torn and there was blood dripping from her mouth.  
And her eyes were green.  
“Hello husband,” before he could react she jumped, pinning him to the bed and staring at him with hunger in her eyes.  
“Uh Alex,” she started taking his clothes off and his face flushed, “S-shouldn’t we t-tell the o-” she cut him off with a searing kiss that made his head foggy, the taste of the blood telling him it came from a sheep and he found his resistance weakening at the feel of her body against his.  
He’ll tell them in the morning.

Delia did not want to get up, her head ached and the rage at the traffic from yesterday was still in her system.   
The body under her moved and she groaned, smacking an arm to make them stay still,  
“Delia,” she tuned the voice out, burying her head into the cold stomach in an attempt to cool her headache, “Delia you have to get up,” if they wanted her to get up they shouldn’t be stroking her hair.   
A knock on the door had her jerking up and with a groan she reluctantly got up from her comfortable spot, stumbling over to the door and opening it to see Jack Harkness grinning at her.  
“Ready for brunch?” Delia snarled at him.  
“I was sleeping,” he saw her bedmate and rose an eyebrow but she punched his stomach, “We’ll meet you in the dining room,” slamming the door shut, she tried to return to her position but received a flick to the forehead.  
“Come on, it’s ten already, we have a big day, and you do have your own room you know,” Yun-Seo ignored her pout in favor of going to the suitcase and changing.  
“I didn’t want to climb the stairs, and you make a comfy pillow,” she dodged the bra tossed at her with a laugh, “So Alex did arrive last night? Should someone come get them?” she wanted to both hug and slap Alex for worrying everyone.  
“Better not,” at her confused look Yun-Seo tapped her nose and Delia getting the hint, opened her senses and flinched, “Gah!” she glared at her friend whose shoulders were shaking, “You could’ve warned me,” Yun-Seo chuckled.  
“It’s funny, let’s leave them to it, I ordered a tray to be delivered this morning, but I have a feeling we won’t see them for another day at least, sniff this,” she held out a pie tin and Delia looked dubious but sniffed it anyways, blinking several times.  
“Ah, poor Rys, hopefully Alex doesn’t go too far,”  
Rys set the now empty plates down, glancing at the bathroom and tiptoed to his suitcase to get dressed for the day. His body ached from the night’s activities and his only reprieve had been when the food was delivered.  
Hopefully Alex calmed down enough and they can enjoy Italy, in the sunshine.  
Alas it was not meant to be.  
He made the mistake of being too close to the bathroom and barely had time to react as a pair of strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a very flat but toned chest.  
“Ready for Round Two?” he swallowed and tried to struggle but all he got was a chuckle before being dragged into the bathroom.  
“What was in that pie?!” was his last exclamation before the door slammed shut and he found himself at his now husband’s mercy.

Future- Space Station  
The Doctor ran to the observation deck, looking around frantically while Rose and a chastened Adam followed him.  
The moment he knew something was up, he’d sent the little girl back with instructions to Rose to give her the TARDIS key because for some reason he didn’t have another one in his jacket.  
Only Rose had already given it to Adam and told the girl to meet him there, which apparently didn’t happen because Adam wandered off.  
“Joy!” he called out, looking around his ship but not seeing her, “Joy! Where are you!” fantastic, just fantastic, he’s trusted with a little girl by her injured mother and has already lost her.  
The familiar sound of a door opening had him grimacing as he prepared himself to face an angry mother, only to look down and see an uninjured, confused five year old.  
“Yes?” he almost sagged against the door but stopped himself.  
“H-how’d you get in?” she tilted her head.  
“I knocked and said please,” he stared at her for a moment before laughing and lifting her up and whirling her around in a hug.  
“Fantastic,” she giggled and he set her down before giving Adam and Rose a serious look.  
“You're lucky,” he directed this to both of them, “Get in.” they did so, only to freeze at the sight of the woman sitting in the chair, Joy running over and hopping into her lap.  
“Everything okay?” there was still a bandage on her head and she was holding herself gingerly, but accepted her daughter’s silent question of being picked up.   
“Heading to 2012, don’t suppose you want to stay? Experience a trip of your own?” Alex gave him a wry smile.  
“Tempting but I’m pretty sure my husband is getting a bit anxious, and while I appreciate you looking out for my daughter, life on the TARDIS isn’t for little girls, but thank-you, for the offer,” Adam stepped forward, trying to look defiant.  
“You know it wasn’t my fault, technically you were in charge,” the Doctor glowered at him and set the TARDIS for 2012.   
He dropped Adam off at his house and followed Alex’ instructions for a house in Africa in a suburban area, feeling a bit disappointed although he didn’t want to admit it.  
“Bye-bye,” Joy gave him one last hug before running to the two-story house where a bunch of kids were hanging around playing soccer, one breaking off from the group and tackling her to the ground.  
“Conan!” Alex gave an exasperated sigh, shaking her head and wincing a bit, “Thank-you again Doctor, I would love to invite you in but my husband is still recovering from what Van Statten’s hunters did to him, and get rid of that expression,” she punched his arm, “It’s 2012 here but you meet us plenty of times in 2006, we lived in England till 2010 before moving down here. Ah,” she gestured for him to lower his head and whispered something in his ear, causing him to straighten and stare at her, “Just so that your not surprised when you see me next,” he opened his mouth, “You’ll find out soon enough,” he closed it and sighed.  
“Right,” guess he would.  
“Doctor,” Rose had her arms crossed and he gave her a look before turning back to Alex.  
“See you later then,” he disappeared into the TARDIS, he had some things to discuss with Rose, after all.  
Alex watched the TARDIS disappear before finding herself surrounded by the children, Conan and Joy wrapped around her legs.  
“Miss Alex, Miss Alex!” she rolled her eyes with a smile, walking towards the house despite the weight and turned to the kids with a raised eyebrow, pointing at the clocktower.  
“Shouldn’t you all be lining up for the school bus home?” they all gasped and ran towards the bus stop, shouting goodbyes to her till they were out of earshot, “Alright,” she picked both of her kids up, “Let’s go see how Daddy is doing, okay? And don’t be surprised Joy when you see him,” Joy blinked and wilted,  
“Oh, is he mad at me?” her voice was small and Conan gave her a panicked look at the tears coming to her eyes.  
“No sweetie, he’s not, so chin up and maybe we can go out for some ice cream after this,” they both cheered.


End file.
